AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate

Explanation

Correct Answer: D - Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) FIFO queues

Why this is correct:

1. FIFO (First-In-First-Out) guarantee: Amazon SQS FIFO queues provide exactly-once processing and preserve the order of messages. This is crucial for the requirement to "guarantee the order of the events."
2. Concurrent processing: The system needs to send events to multiple services (leaderboard, matchmaking, authentication) concurrently. With SQS FIFO queues, you can have multiple consumers processing messages in order.
3. Event-driven architecture: SQS is designed for decoupled, event-driven architectures where services can process messages asynchronously.

Why other options are incorrect:

A. Amazon EventBridge event bus:

• EventBridge is excellent for event routing and integration with AWS services
• However, it doesn't guarantee strict ordering of events across multiple consumers
• Best for event-driven architectures where ordering isn't critical

B. Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) FIFO topics:

• SNS FIFO topics do provide ordering guarantees
• However, they are designed for point-to-point messaging with ordering
• The requirement mentions sending to "separate" services concurrently, which suggests multiple consumers
• SNS FIFO topics with SQS FIFO queues as subscribers could work, but the question asks for the simplest solution

C. Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) standard topics:

• Standard topics don't guarantee ordering
• Messages can be delivered out of order
• Doesn't meet the requirement to "guarantee the order of the events"

Key AWS Service Characteristics:

• SQS FIFO Queues: Guaranteed ordering, exactly-once processing, message deduplication
• SNS FIFO Topics: Ordering with message deduplication, but typically used with SQS FIFO queues as subscribers
• EventBridge: Event routing without guaranteed ordering
• SNS Standard Topics: No ordering guarantees

Architecture Recommendation:

For this scenario where you need to:

1. Send unique events
2. Process them in order
3. Distribute to multiple services concurrently

The best solution is to use Amazon SQS FIFO queues where each service can have its own consumer processing messages in the correct order.