Auto Scaling can grow and shrink your fleet several ways, and the exam expects you to pick the right policy for the scenario — reactive, predictable, or scheduled.
The policy types
Target tracking keeps a metric at a set value (e.g., CPU at 50%) — the easiest and most common. Step scaling adds capacity in steps based on alarm thresholds. Scheduled scaling changes capacity at known times (a 9 a.m. rush). Predictive scaling uses ML to scale ahead of forecasted demand.
Test yourself
Traffic follows a known daily pattern: heavy 9-to-5, quiet overnight, every weekday. What’s the most efficient scaling approach?
- Manual scaling each morning
- Scheduled scaling
- A single fixed capacity
- Deleting instances nightly by hand
👉 Click to reveal the answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Scheduled scaling changes capacity at known times, matching a predictable daily pattern automatically. Manual approaches (A, D) don’t scale reliably; fixed capacity (C) wastes money overnight or falls short at peak.
Related topics
Auto Scaling · Amazon EC2 · Amazon CloudWatch
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