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A research institution needs to process massive datasets (terabytes to petabytes) for scientific simulations. These jobs are computationally intensive, can run for many hours, and are fault-tolerant, meaning they can be interrupted and resumed without significant loss. The institution has a strict budget and wants to minimize compute costs. Which EC2 purchasing option is most suitable?
- AOn-Demand Instances
- BReserved Instances
- CDedicated Hosts
- DSpot Instances
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Spot Instances
EC2 Spot Instances allow bidding on unused EC2 capacity, offering significant discounts (up to 90%) compared to On-Demand prices. For fault-tolerant, flexible workloads like scientific simulations that can handle interruptions, Spot Instances are the most cost-effective solution.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. On-Demand Instances are more expensive as they are billed by the hour/second without discounts, making them less suitable for cost-sensitive, fault-tolerant workloads.
- B. Reserved Instances are for steady-state, long-term, predictable workloads and do not offer the flexibility or cost savings of Spot Instances for intermittent, interruptible jobs.
- C. Dedicated Hosts provide physical EC2 servers for specific licensing requirements and are the most expensive option, completely unsuitable for cost minimization.
EC2 Spot Instances
Unused EC2 capacity available at significant discounts, suitable for fault-tolerant workloads that can be interrupted and resumed.
- Up to 90% savings compared to On-Demand.
- Can be interrupted with a 2-minute warning.
- Ideal for batch jobs, data analysis, scientific computing.
Memory trick: Spot the savings for interruptible, flexible jobs.