Customer Responsibility in AWS Shared Model
Short answer
D Updating the guest operating system on Amazon EC2 instances is the customer's responsibility under the AWS shared responsibility model.
Question
Key Takeaways
The question tests the boundary of management responsibilities, specifically distinguishing between serverless/database managed services (AWS responsibility) and IaaS compute instances (customer responsibility).
This page clarifies the AWS shared responsibility model by identifying that customers manage guest OS updates on EC2, while AWS handles underlying infrastructure for services like Lambda and DynamoDB.
Common mistake: Candidates often confuse the management level of different service types, incorrectly assuming AWS manages the OS for all compute or database resources regardless of the service model.
Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
In the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, security 'of' the cloud is AWS's responsibility, while security 'in' the cloud is the customer's. For Amazon EC2, which is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, the customer retains full control over the guest operating system, including applying patches and updates. Therefore, updating the guest OS is explicitly the customer's duty.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Options A, B, and C describe managed services where AWS handles the underlying infrastructure. For AWS Lambda (serverless), AWS manages the runtime environment. For Amazon DynamoDB (managed NoSQL), AWS manages the hardware, OS, and database engine. For Amazon S3 (managed storage), AWS maintains the entire infrastructure. In these cases, the customer does not have access to or control over the underlying OS or infrastructure components.
Community Comment Notes
The community consensus strongly supports option D, with multiple users confirming it as the correct answer. Comments highlight that understanding the distinction between managed services and virtual machines is key to passing this exam objective.
Exam Strategy
Memorize the service models: IaaS (EC2) requires you to manage the Guest OS; PaaS/SaaS/Serverless (RDS, Lambda, DynamoDB) means AWS manages the OS and infrastructure. Always check if the service is fully managed before selecting the customer's responsibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does AWS manage the OS for Lambda?
Is DynamoDB infrastructure AWS responsibility?
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer D. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Discussion 3 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 3
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ShaiTay 👍 2 Answered DD. Updating the guest operating system on Amazon EC2 instances
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Yomijohnson 👍 2D is the correct answer
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8ebbb21 👍 2 Answered DD is Correct Answer
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