AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate / Question #1765 of 1019

Question #1765

A financial institution is designing a high-frequency trading system that requires ultra-low latency communication between servers. The architecture must ensure minimal network latency between Amazon EC2 instances. Which two configurations should be implemented together? (Choose two.)

A

Enable enhanced networking with SR-IOV on the EC2 instances.

B

Distribute the EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones.

C

Launch all EC2 instances within a single cluster placement group.

D

Configure each EC2 instance with multiple elastic network interfaces.

E

Use EC2 instances that are optimized for Amazon EBS.

Explanation

The correct answers are A and C.

Why A (Enhanced Networking with SR-IOV) is correct:
SR-IOV bypasses the hypervisor for direct network interface access, reducing latency and jitter—critical for high-frequency trading.

Why C (Cluster Placement Group) is correct:
Cluster placement groups place EC2 instances in the same rack, minimizing network hops and ensuring ultra-low latency communication.

Why other options are incorrect:
- B: Distributing across AZs increases latency due to inter-AZ communication.
- D: Multiple ENIs don't reduce latency; they increase bandwidth or segmentation.
- E: EBS optimization targets storage I/O, not network latency.

Key Points:
1. Use SR-IOV (enhanced networking) for direct hardware access.
2. Cluster placement groups ensure physical proximity for low-latency communication.
3. Avoid multi-AZ deployments for latency-sensitive systems.

Answer

The correct answer is: AC