Run interruptible batch simulations on AWS Batch with Spot Instances only

SAP-C02 By islever Editorial Last updated

Identify opportunities for cost optimizations. Determine a cost optimization strategy to meet solution goals and objectives. Determine a strategy to improve performance.

Short answer

B Create an AWS Batch compute environment using EC2 Spot Instances with the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED allocation strategy.

Question

A company needs to run large batch-processing jobs on data that is stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. The jobs perform simulations. The results of the jobs are not time sensitive, and the process can withstand interruptions. Each job must process 15-20 GB of data when the data is stored in the S3 bucket. The company will store the output from the jobs in a different Amazon S3 bucket for further analysis. Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
  1. Create a serverless data pipeline. Use AWS Step Functions for orchestration. Use AWS Lambda functions with provisioned capacity to process the data.
  2. Create an AWS Batch compute environment that includes Amazon EC2 Spot Instances. Specify the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED allocation strategy. Correct Answer
  3. Create an AWS Batch compute environment that includes Amazon EC2 On-Demand Instances and Spot Instances. Specify the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED allocation strategy for the Spot Instances.
  4. Use Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) to run the processing jobs. Use managed node groups that contain a combination of Amazon EC2 On-Demand Instances and Spot Instances.

Key Takeaways

Spot Instances can be reclaimed with a two-minute notice, which is only acceptable because the jobs tolerate interruption, and the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED allocation strategy picks the Spot pools with the lowest interruption probability so jobs are not repeatedly reclaimed.

Large batch simulation jobs read 15 to 20 GB each from an S3 bucket and write results to a different bucket. The results are not time sensitive, the process tolerates interruption, and the priority is the lowest possible cost.

Common mistake: Mixing On-Demand and Spot capacity. A compute environment with both is useful when the work must always run, but here the work is interruptible and untimed, so On-Demand capacity adds cost for no benefit and the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED strategy applies to the Spot portion only.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

The two explicit constraints, that results are not time sensitive and the process can withstand interruptions, are the preconditions for using Spot capacity. AWS Batch is the right service because each job processes 15 to 20 GB and needs a managed compute environment, and a compute environment made up only of Spot Instances gets the deep discount that On-Demand pricing cannot match. Specifying SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED makes Batch choose the instance pools with the lowest chance of interruption, which reduces the likelihood that a long simulation is repeatedly reclaimed, and Batch checkpoints the job so it resumes on another instance.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

A: Provisioned concurrency for Lambda is designed for low-latency request handling, and a simulation processing 20 GB per job is not a fit for a fifteen-minute maximum execution limit, so this option cannot run the work at all. C: A compute environment with both On-Demand and Spot Instances provides guaranteed capacity, which costs more and is unnecessary when interruptions are acceptable. The SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED strategy would still apply only to the Spot portion, leaving paid On-Demand capacity running. D: An EKS cluster with managed node groups requires the team to operate a Kubernetes cluster and tune node groups, and managed node groups do not give the Spot pricing benefit in the way a Batch compute environment does, so the operational and cost overhead is higher than Batch.

Community Comment Notes

The community voted 100 to 0 for B, with the top-voted comment mapping the question's phrasing directly to the service choice, large batch jobs to AWS Batch, and not time sensitive and can withstand interruptions to Spot Instances. Another commenter linked the AWS blog on cost-effective batch processing with EC2 Spot and correctly noted why option C is wrong, since AWS Batch selects instance types that are large enough to meet the job requirements and the mixed strategy adds cost without benefit here.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/batch/latest/userguide/spot-allocation-strategy.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Community Votes

B
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer B. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 7 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 7

  1. VerRi 👍 7 Answered B
    "large batch-processing jobs" -> Batch "not time sensitive, and the process can withstand interruptions" -> Spot
  2. pangchn 👍 1 Answered B
    B C is wrong due to the following AWS Batch selects one or more instance types that are large enough to meet the requirements of the jobs in the queue. Instance types that are less likely to be interrupted are preferred. This allocation strategy is only available for Spot Instance compute resources. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/batch/latest/userguide/allocation-strategies.html
  3. AzureDP900 👍 1
    Option B utilizes AWS Batch with EC2 Spot Instances and the SPOT_CAPACITY_OPTIMIZED allocation strategy. This approach takes advantage of the Spot Instance pricing model, which provides a significant discount compared to On-Demand pricing. By using this configuration, the company can process large batch jobs at a lower cost while still meeting the specified requirements.
  4. AzureDP900 👍 1
    B is right because The results of the jobs are not time sensitive, and the process can withstand interruptions
  5. TonytheTiger 👍 1 Answered B
    Option B - AWS Blog https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/cost-effective-batch-processing-with-amazon-ec2-spot/
Show 2 more comments
  1. CMMC 👍 1 Answered B
    AWS Batch with Spot instances given not time sensitive
  2. Dgix 👍 1 Answered B
    The correct answer is B.

Reader comments & corrections

No reader corrections yet — spotted an error or have a note? Share it below.

Log in to comment, report an error, or add a note about this question.

Submitted for moderation before publishing. Keep it helpful and respectful.

Modernize centralized firewall appliances with a Gateway Load Balancer and Auto Scaling

S-grade

Use Lambda over a CloudWatch Logs stream to count unique users per client

S-grade

Serve global game assets with Route 53 latency records and health checks

S-grade

Reach a cross-account S3 data lake through a gateway endpoint and an access point bucket policy

S-grade

Practice All SAP-C02 Questions

Access 85 questions with complete answers and detailed explanations.

View Full SAP-C02 Practice Test →

← Back to SAP-C02 Study Guide