Exam AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03 topic 1 question 127 discussion

Max instance store possible at this time is 30TB for NVMe which has the higher I/O compared to EBS. is4gen.8xlarge 4 x 7,500 GB (30 TB) NVMe SSD https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/InstanceStorage.html#instance-store-volumes

The correct Answer is A : Amazon EC2 instance store (Instance Store) is usually not the best choice because the storage it provides is temporary and tied to the life cycle of the instance. When an instance is stopped or terminated, data on the instance store is lost. In this scenario, the company's requirements were to have the maximum possible I/O performance and required durable data storage. Therefore, using Amazon EC2 Instance Store does not meet these requirements because it lacks durability. In contrast, Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides persistent regional block storage and can meet the needs of high-performance I/O. Therefore, the answer should include Amazon EBS, not Amazon EC2 instance storage.

At least 10 TB of storage with the maximum possible I/O performance for video processing. Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store): Provides persistent block storage volumes that can be attached to EC2 instances. It offers various volume types, including Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1/io2 Block Express) and General Purpose SSD (gp3), which are designed for high-performance workloads like video processing. EBS volumes are highly available within an Availability Zone. Amazon EC2 Instance Store: Provides temporary block-level storage for your EC2 instance. It offers very high random I/O performance because it's physically attached to the host machine. However, the data persists only for the lifetime of the instance. If the instance stops or terminates, the data is lost. This makes it unsuitable for long-term video processing data unless you have a robust way to move data in and out quickly and handle transient failures.

Explanation: 1. Maximum I/O Performance for Video Processing (10 TB) Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides high-performance block storage that can scale to meet IOPS-intensive workloads like video processing. You can use EBS io2 or io2 Block Express volumes for maximum performance and durability. 2. Durable Storage for Media Content (300 TB) Amazon S3 offers 11 nines (99.999999999%) of durability, making it ideal for storing large volumes of media content that needs to be safely preserved and frequently accessed. 3. Archival Storage (900 TB) Amazon S3 Glacier is built for long-term archival at very low cost. It's perfect for media content that is rarely accessed but must be retained for long periods.

Correct answer is A. EC2 instance store is not well suited for this scenario since data could be lost if the instance stops or terminates

Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2) for the 10 TB of storage needed for high I/O performance video processing.

At least 10 TB of storage with max I/O performance (for video processing): Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides high-performance block storage for EC2. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2) volumes offer the maximum performance and consistency required for intensive workloads like video processing. ❌ EC2 instance store is fast but ephemeral — data is lost if the instance stops or fails.

Can be a bit confusing due to the presence of option A: EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD, Durable = S3, Archive = Glacier, but maximum performance is always equal to instance store. Here they do not need a permanent storage with maximum performance. It will only be used for processing and then sent to a highly durable storage. D logically cannot be the answer

Instance storage is ephimeral data that gets destroyed when EC2 is stopped/restarted. Unless the question says that data is not important , I will assume that every data that app processed is imporant . So , I will go with A

Ans D. The requirements for every kind of data is specific. So, you need: 10 TB high I/O / performance = Instance Store ( the reqs. doesn't mention anything about durability, just performance ) 300 TB very durable = S3 900 TB archival = Glacier

EC2 Instance Store Volumes provide the highest storage performance in AWS and S3 provides durable storage while S3 Glacier is best for archival storage.

answer is A

The combination of Amazon EBS , Amazon S3 and Amazon S3 Glacier (option A) is the most suitable solution for this media company. It offers: Maximum I/O performance for video processing with Amazon EBS. Durability and reliability for media content with Amazon S3. Cost-effective storage for archived data with Amazon S3 Glacier.

I prefer A over D. instance storage is not recommended for video processing because it's designed for temporary storage and doesn't provide the durability and persistence needed for video processing. Instead, Amazon EBS is a better choice for video processing because it provides the required performance, durability, and persistence. Here's some more information about instance storage and Amazon EBS: Instance storage A temporary storage volume that acts as a physical hard drive. It's located on disks that are physically attached to the host computer. Instance storage is ideal for temporary storage of information that changes frequently, such as buffers, caches, and scratch data. Data in an instance store persists during the lifetime of its instance, but it's not persistent through instance stops, terminations, or hardware failures.

Why not EC2 instance store? Instance store is ephemeral (data is lost when the instance stops or terminates). It lacks durability, making it unsuitable for critical video processing.

Explanation: Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) for maximum performance: Amazon EBS provides high IOPS and low latency storage, which is ideal for video processing workloads that require fast performance. Amazon S3 for durable data storage: Amazon S3 is highly durable, scalable, and designed for storing large amounts of data, such as media content (300 TB). It also provides 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability, making it suitable for this requirement. Amazon S3 Glacier for archival storage: Amazon S3 Glacier is a cost-effective storage solution for archiving large amounts of data (900 TB) that is infrequently accessed but still needs to be stored securely and durably.

answer is A