Free SAA-C03 practice scenarios: right-sizing

Paying for what you use — the tools that find waste and the moves that remove it. Six cost scenarios, SAA-C03, 2026 edition.

Try 6 free right-sizing scenarios in the exam's own style — every answer explained, no sign-up.

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Right-sizing is the practical heart of the cost domain: find the waste, then remove it. The SAA-C03 tests both halves — the tools that surface over-provisioning and idle resources, and the architectural moves that cut the cost.

Finding the waste

AWS Compute Optimizer — analyzes utilization and gives data-driven recommendations on instance types and configurations for EC2, EBS, Lambda and Auto Scaling groups. The answer for “which instance type actually fits this workload”.
AWS Trusted Advisor — a broader best-practice review whose cost checks flag idle and underutilized resources across the account. The answer for a quick account-wide sweep.

Compute Optimizer is the deep right-sizing engine; Trusted Advisor is the fast review.

Removing the waste

Four recurring moves, each matched to a workload shape:

Idle non-production compute (dev/test running 24/7, used business hours) → schedule stop/start so you pay only when it is used.
A fixed fleet sized for peak that idles most of the day → Auto Scaling to match capacity to demand.
A steady compute-heavy workload → Graviton (ARM) instances for better price performance.
An intermittent, event-driven workload on an always-on instance → serverless (Lambda), paying only per invocation and eliminating idle cost.

The distractors

Watch for a commitment discount (Reserved Instance, Savings Plan) offered where the real problem is idle capacity — discounting an idle instance still pays for idle time. Right-sizing removes the waste; a discount only reduces its rate. And Spot is wrong for interactive dev or must-stay-up production, however cheap.

How to use the six scenarios below

Answer each one before opening the explanation, and when you miss, name the waste the requirement described — “over-provisioned instance type”, “idle resources”, “runs 24/7 but used part-time”, “fixed fleet mostly idle”, “steady compute”, “intermittent and idle”. Every explanation states that shape and dismantles the distractors, which usually discount the waste rather than remove it. For the domain overview, see Design Cost-Optimized Architectures.

Right-sizing for cost. AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes utilization metrics and recommends better-fitting instance types for over-provisioned EC2, EBS, Lambda and Auto Scaling groups. AWS Trusted Advisor flags idle and underutilized resources among its cost checks. Non-production instances are scheduled to stop outside business hours, over-provisioned fixed fleets are replaced with Auto Scaling elasticity, steady workloads move to Graviton for better price performance, and intermittent workloads move to serverless to remove idle cost.

6 free SAA-C03 practice questions

Answers and explanations — no email wall

SAA-C03 Question 1 of 6

Many EC2 instances consistently run at very low CPU and memory utilization. The team wants data-driven recommendations on which instance types would fit the actual workload. Which service should they use?

Answer: A — AWS Compute Optimizer.

AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes historical utilization and recommends better-fitting instance types (and settings for EBS, Lambda and Auto Scaling groups) — exactly the data-driven right-sizing guidance requested. Why not the others: AWS Budgets alerts on spend thresholds, it does not recommend instance types. Amazon Inspector assesses security vulnerabilities. AWS Config tracks resource configuration and compliance. Utilization-based right-sizing recommendations are AWS Compute Optimizer.

SAA-C03 Question 2 of 6

A company wants a quick way to surface idle load balancers, underutilized EC2 instances and other cost best-practice issues across the account. Which service provides these checks?

Answer: A — AWS Trusted Advisor (cost optimization checks).

Trusted Advisor runs best-practice checks across categories including cost optimization, flagging idle and underutilized resources and other savings opportunities — the fast account-wide review described. Why not the others: CloudWatch Logs stores and searches log data, not cost best-practice checks. CloudFormation drift detection compares stack state to templates. Amazon Macie discovers sensitive data in S3. Account-wide cost best-practice checks are Trusted Advisor.

SAA-C03 Question 3 of 6

Development and test EC2 instances run 24/7 but are only used during business hours on weekdays. What is the simplest way to cut their cost?

Answer: A — Schedule the instances to stop outside business hours and start them when needed.

Stopping non-production instances outside business hours means you pay for compute only when it is actually used — a simple, large saving for dev/test that idles nights and weekends. Why not the others: a three-year Reserved Instance commits to continuous usage, the opposite of an intermittent dev workload. Spot fits fault-tolerant batch, not interactive dev environments that must be available on demand. Upgrading raises cost. Turning off unused non-production compute is scheduled stop/start.

SAA-C03 Question 4 of 6

A workload runs on a fixed fleet of large EC2 instances sized for peak demand, which occurs only a few hours a day; the rest of the time the fleet is mostly idle. How should this be right-sized for cost?

Answer: A — Replace the fixed fleet with an Auto Scaling group that scales capacity to demand.

An Auto Scaling group adds capacity during the peak and removes it the rest of the day, so you pay for what demand requires instead of peak capacity around the clock — the right-sizing move for a fixed over-provisioned fleet. Why not the others: keeping the whole fixed fleet and adding Spot does not remove the idle over-provisioning. A single very large instance is still sized for peak and is a single point of failure. Read replicas address database read load, not a mostly-idle compute fleet. Matching capacity to demand is Auto Scaling.

SAA-C03 Question 5 of 6

A steady, always-on application has a compute-heavy workload, and the team wants better price performance without changing the application's behavior significantly. Which option should they evaluate?

Answer: A — Moving to AWS Graviton (ARM-based) instances for better price performance.

AWS Graviton (ARM-based) instances typically deliver better price performance than comparable x86 instances for many workloads, making them a strong right-sizing option for a steady compute-heavy application. Why not the others: the largest x86 instance increases cost, not price performance. Spot risks interruption on a production workload that must stay available. Disabling Auto Scaling removes elasticity and does not improve price performance. Better price performance for steady compute is Graviton.

SAA-C03 Question 6 of 6

An event-driven workload runs only a few times an hour but sits on an always-on EC2 instance that is idle most of the time. How can idle cost be eliminated?

Answer: A — Move the workload to a serverless service such as AWS Lambda, paying only per invocation.

Moving an intermittent, event-driven workload to Lambda means you pay only when it runs, eliminating the idle time an always-on instance bills for — the cleanest removal of idle cost. Why not the others: a Savings Plan discounts the always-on instance but you still pay for idle capacity. A smaller always-on instance still runs (and bills) while idle. Spot lowers the rate but keeps an always-on instance model and risks interruption. Removing idle cost for intermittent work is serverless.

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Frequently asked questions

Compute Optimizer or Trusted Advisor for right-sizing?

Use Compute Optimizer for detailed, utilization-based recommendations on instance types and configurations for EC2, EBS, Lambda and Auto Scaling groups. Use Trusted Advisor for a broader account-wide sweep of best-practice checks, including flagging idle and underutilized resources. Compute Optimizer is the deeper right-sizing engine; Trusted Advisor is the quick review.

What is the general right-sizing playbook?

Find waste (Compute Optimizer, Trusted Advisor), then remove it: turn off non-production compute when idle, replace fixed over-provisioned fleets with Auto Scaling, adopt Graviton for better price performance, and move intermittent workloads to serverless so you pay only per use.

Are these real exam questions?

No. They are original scenarios written for this page in the exam's style and difficulty. Reproducing real exam items violates the AWS certification agreement and can cost a candidate their certification — ours come with the reasoning attached instead.

What is the one-line takeaway?

Find waste with Compute Optimizer and Trusted Advisor, then right-size: stop idle non-prod, scale with Auto Scaling instead of over-provisioning, use Graviton for price performance, and go serverless for intermittent work.

Updated for SAA-C03 (July 2026). The sample questions above are our own work in the style of the exam — not real exam items. The exam itself is set and marked by the certification body.