Complete breakdown of all 65 questions mapped to AWS SAA-C03 exam objectives
| Q# | Problem Statement | Core Challenge | AWS Solution | Category | Exam Domain | Priority | Key Concepts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Web app global users, files 2+ years need cost-effective storage | Data Lifecycle Management | S3 Lifecycle Policies: Standard → IA → Glacier | Storage | Cost-Optimized | High | Storage classes, Cost optimization |
| Q2 | Crypto exchange needs detailed CPU/memory monitoring | Deep Database Monitoring | RDS Enhanced Monitoring | Database | High-Performing | High | Process monitoring, Performance insights |
| Q3 | App needs min 2 instances, scales to 6, HA fault-tolerant | High Availability with Fault Tolerance | Multi-AZ Auto Scaling: Min 4 (2 per AZ), Max 6 | Compute | Resilient | High | Multi-AZ, Minimum capacity |
| Q4 | Weather data 500GB each country fastest to Virginia | Fast Data Transfer | S3 Transfer Acceleration + Multipart Upload | Storage | High-Performing | Medium | Global acceleration, Parallel upload |
| Q5 | Local cache low-latency + long-term archival SMB | Hybrid Storage with Caching | AWS Storage Gateway File Gateway + S3 Lifecycle | Storage | High-Performing | High | Local cache, SMB protocol |
| Q6 | EKS cluster encrypt etcd sensitive data compliance | Container Secret Encryption | EKS Secret Encryption with AWS KMS | Security | Secure | High | Kubernetes secrets, KMS encryption |
| Q7 | Aurora read replica performance issues during peaks | Database Read Scaling | Aurora Auto Scaling for Read Replicas | Database | High-Performing | High | Read scaling, Performance optimization |
| Q8 | CRM slow at 9AM but normal after hours | Predictable Scaling | Scheduled Auto Scaling Policy | Compute | High-Performing | Medium | Schedule-based, Known patterns |
| Q9 | Social network notify users when follows post | Event-Driven Notifications | DynamoDB Streams + Lambda + SNS | Database | High-Performing | Medium | Database streams, Fan-out messaging |
| Q10 | .NET Oracle migration minimal development changes HA | Lift-and-Shift Migration | AWS DMS + Elastic Beanstalk Multi-AZ | Migration | Resilient | Medium | Minimal code changes, HA database |
| Q11 | Single NAT Gateway creates failure point multi-AZ | High Availability for Outbound Traffic | NAT Gateway in Each AZ + Route Table Config | Networking | Resilient | High | AZ independence, Route table config |
| Q12 | S3 notifications to SQS for dev AND ops teams | Message Fan-out Pattern | SNS Topic with Multiple SQS Queue Subscriptions | Storage | Resilient | Medium | Message distribution, Event-driven |
| Q13 | Aurora trigger actions when car records deleted | Database Trigger Integration | Aurora Native Function/Stored Procedure + Lambda | Database | High-Performing | Medium | Stored procedures, Lambda integration |
| Q14 | Global company centralized AWS resource sharing | Multi-Account Resource Sharing | AWS Organizations + AWS Resource Access Manager | Networking | Cost-Optimized | High | Centralized management, Resource sharing |
| Q15 | S3 data accidentally deleted by junior engineer | S3 Data Protection | S3 Versioning + Multi-Factor Authentication Delete | Storage | Secure | High | Version control, Multi-factor auth |
| Q16 | VPC under DDoS attacks need fortified defense | DDoS Protection | AWS Shield Advanced | Security | Secure | High | Network protection, Advanced threats |
| Q17 | Financial app RDS auth using EC2 instance profile | Database Authentication Integration | RDS IAM Database Authentication | Security | Secure | High | Token-based auth, IAM integration |
| Q18 | RDS single AZ experiencing outages | Database High Availability | RDS Multi-AZ Deployment | Database | Resilient | High | Automatic failover, Synchronous replication |
| Q19 | S3 static website API calls browser blocks cross-origin | Cross-Origin Resource Sharing | S3 CORS Configuration | Storage | Secure | Medium | Cross-origin requests, Browser security |
| Q20 | Medical S3 compliance mode 1 year no root access | Compliance Storage | S3 Object Lock Compliance Mode with Retention | Storage | Secure | High | Write-once-read-many, Immutable storage |
| Q21 | EC2 memory/disk utilization not in CloudWatch | Custom System Monitoring | Install CloudWatch Agent on EC2 Instances | Monitoring | High-Performing | Medium | System-level metrics, Agent installation |
| Q22 | Query data across multiple AWS accounts data lake | Cross-Account Data Access | AWS Lake Formation | Storage | High-Performing | Medium | Cross-account querying, Data governance |
| Q23 | Healthcare real-time data PII anonymization | Streaming Data with Privacy | Kinesis Data Streams + Lambda + DynamoDB | Serverless | Secure | Medium | Real-time data transformation, Privacy |
| Q24 | Government census S3 data PII compliance monitoring | Data Privacy Compliance | Amazon Macie | Security | Secure | Medium | PII detection, Policy violations |
| Q25 | Travel photos hotlinked causing bandwidth theft | Content Protection | S3 Pre-signed URLs with Expiration | Storage | Secure | Medium | Access control, Time-limited URLs |
| Q26 | Auto Scaling default termination policy which instance | Auto Scaling Termination Logic | Instance from Oldest Launch Template | Compute | Resilient | Medium | Instance termination, Default policies |
| Q27 | Forex trading Oracle migration urgent HA | Database Migration with HA | AWS DMS + RDS Multi-AZ | Database | Resilient | Medium | Zero-downtime migration, High availability |
| Q28 | EC2 memory utilization not available CloudWatch | Custom Metric Collection | Custom CloudWatch Metrics via Agent | Monitoring | High-Performing | Medium | Memory utilization, Custom metrics |
| Q29 | Aurora MySQL synchronous replication weather app | Database Synchronous Replication | RDS Multi-AZ Deployment | Database | Resilient | Medium | Zero data loss, Automatic failover |
| Q30 | Fargate batch jobs S3 upload triggered scaling | Event-Driven Container Scaling | EventBridge Rule + ECS Task Target | Compute | Cost-Optimized | Medium | Container scaling, Event triggers |
| Q31 | Full encryption key control immediate removal audit | Maximum Key Control | AWS KMS Custom Key Store + CloudHSM | Security | Secure | High | Hardware security, Key ownership |
| Q32 | Lambda MongoDB credentials environment variables secure | Secrets Management | Lambda Environment Variable Encryption with KMS | Security | Secure | Medium | Environment encryption, Developer security |
| Q33 | Windows file share migration IIS compatibility HA | Windows File System Migration | Amazon FSx for Windows File Server | Storage | Resilient | Medium | Windows compatibility, AD integration |
| Q34 | Corporate AD users AWS Console existing groups | Active Directory Integration | AD Connector + IAM Roles | Networking | Secure | Medium | Active Directory, Single sign-on |
| Q35 | CloudFront multiple private files paying subscribers | Bulk Private Content Access | CloudFront Signed Cookies | Security | Secure | Medium | Bulk access, URL preservation |
| Q36 | High volume requests changing IP addresses | Rate-Based Attack Mitigation | AWS WAF Rate-Based Rule | Security | Secure | Medium | Attack mitigation, Legitimate traffic |
| Q37 | Multi-region 1-second RPO under 1-minute RTO | Ultra-Fast Disaster Recovery | Aurora Global Database | Database | Resilient | High | Ultra-fast DR, Global replication |
| Q38 | DynamoDB workload distribution across partitions | Database Partition Optimization | High-Cardinality Partition Keys | Database | High-Performing | Medium | Load distribution, Partition design |
| Q39 | IPv6 outbound internet access prevent inbound | IPv6 Outbound-Only Access | Egress-Only Internet Gateway + AWS Network Firewall | Security | Secure | Medium | IPv6 networking, Traffic filtering |
| Q40 | ElastiCache Redis MULTI EXEC authentication | Redis Authentication | Redis AUTH with auth-token Parameter | Security | Secure | Medium | Redis commands, Authentication tokens |
| Q41 | Multi-account firewall protect ALBs SQL injection | Centralized Security Management | AWS WAF + AWS Firewall Manager | Security | Secure | Medium | Cross-account protection, SQL injection |
| Q42 | Private subnet DynamoDB S3 without internet | Private Cloud Connectivity | VPC Endpoints for S3 and DynamoDB | Networking | High-Performing | Medium | VPC endpoints, Internet avoidance |
| Q43 | Auto-scaled EC2 shared file access EBS slow | Shared File System | Amazon EFS | Storage | High-Performing | Medium | Multi-instance access, POSIX compliance |
| Q44 | CloudFormation IAM policy S3 permissions analysis | IAM Policy Interpretation | IAM Policy allows: Read all S3, Write specific bucket | Monitoring | Secure | Medium | Permission interpretation, Security audit |
| Q45 | Cryptocurrency API sudden traffic spikes | API Traffic Surge Protection | API Gateway Throttling + Result Caching | Serverless | High-Performing | Medium | Traffic management, Backend protection |
| Q46 | Windows Server trading HA block storage multi-AZ | Cross-AZ Block Storage | Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ with iSCSI | Storage | High-Performing | Medium | High-performance, Cross-AZ access |
| Q47 | Mission-critical persistent storage 30-day archival | Storage Lifecycle with Performance | Amazon EBS + S3 with Lifecycle Policy to Glacier | Storage | Cost-Optimized | Medium | Block storage, Automated archival |
| Q48 | API Gateway Lambda protect traffic spikes | Serverless Traffic Management | API Gateway Throttling Limits | Serverless | High-Performing | Medium | Traffic control, Automatic scaling |
| Q49 | ML high-performance parallel plus cold storage | High-Performance + Archival Storage | Amazon FSx for Lustre + Amazon S3 | Storage | High-Performing | Medium | High-performance parallel, Cost archival |
| Q50 | Medical PII client-side encryption master keys | Maximum Data Privacy | S3 Client-Side Encryption with Client-Side Master Key | Storage | Secure | High | Client-side encryption, Key ownership |
| Q51 | 1200 employees single sign-on S3 individual folders | Enterprise Identity Federation | SAML 2.0 Federation + STS + IAM Roles | Networking | Secure | Medium | Large-scale identity, Temporary tokens |
| Q52 | EC2 SSH access restricted single IP address | Precise Network Access Control | Security Group Inbound Rule: TCP/22 from /32 | Security | Secure | Medium | Precise IP restrictions, SSH security |
| Q53 | Startup trading app burst traffic global API | Serverless Burst Handling | API Gateway + Lambda (auto-scaling) | Serverless | High-Performing | Medium | Instant scaling, Worldwide distribution |
| Q54 | Aurora cluster route production high-capacity reporting low | Database Workload Routing | Aurora Custom Endpoints | Database | High-Performing | Medium | Capacity-based routing, Performance optimization |
| Q55 | DevOps accidentally deleted S3 file prevent future | S3 Deletion Protection | S3 Versioning + MFA Delete | Storage | Secure | Medium | Accidental deletion, Version control |
| Q56 | Auto Scaling over-provisioning cost-effective scaling | Intelligent Cost Optimization | Target Tracking Scaling Policy | Compute | Cost-Optimized | Medium | Demand-based, Performance maintenance |
| Q57 | Government tax VPC-restricted write-once compliance | Compliant Secure Storage | S3 Access Points + Object Lock with Legal Hold | Storage | Secure | Medium | VPC restriction, Immutable storage |
| Q58 | Company directory 1200 employees S3 AD/LDAP | Directory Service Integration | Federation Proxy + STS + IAM Policy | Networking | Secure | Medium | Corporate directory, S3 folder access |
| Q59 | EC2 SSH access limited one specific IP security group | Granular Network Security | Security Group: Protocol TCP, Port 22, Source IP/32 | Security | Secure | Medium | Granular network security |
| Q60 | Trading API low activity massive bursts global | Global Serverless Scaling | API Gateway + Lambda Global Distribution | Serverless | High-Performing | Medium | Global serverless APIs |
| Q61 | 2GB CSV files hourly automated Parquet conversion | Data Processing Pipeline | AWS Glue ETL + S3 Event Notifications + SQS | Serverless | High-Performing | High | Automated ETL, Event-driven pipeline |
| Q62 | Microsoft SharePoint migration Windows AD integration | Windows File System Migration | Amazon FSx for Windows File Server with AD Integration | Storage | Resilient | Medium | File system preservation, AD compatibility |
| Q63 | CloudFront users slow login HTTP 504 errors | Global Performance Optimization | Lambda@Edge + Origin Failover Groups | Serverless | High-Performing | Medium | Edge processing, Reliability improvement |
| Q64 | Audit team compliance documents security reports | Compliance Documentation Access | AWS Artifact | Monitoring | Secure | Medium | Audit documentation, Regulatory reports |
| Q65 | SFTP file transfer encryption HA auto-deletion | Secure File Transfer with Lifecycle | AWS Transfer for SFTP + S3 Lifecycle Rules | Storage | Resilient | Medium | File transfer protocol, Automated cleanup |