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AWS Cloud Practitioner · Practice questions

Ten AWS Cloud Practitioner questions, and why the runner-up answer loses

By Mustafa K. Al-Dori · Edition 2026.2, verified 9 October 2026 · 8 min read

The short answer

Try the ten questions below in 15 minutes, counting only your first answer. They are original, not AWS questions, and each is mapped to a task statement in the CLF-C02 exam guide. Read the last line of each question first, then remove the options that do something different. Sort your misses by habit with the table at the end.

Most Cloud Practitioner misses are not ignorance. The candidate knows both services and picks the one that sounds closer. These ten questions are written to catch that, and every explanation says why the runner-up loses.

How should you use these questions?

AWS publishes no figure that predicts your result, and a practice score is only a guide. A set like this does something more useful: it shows which habits cost you marks. Answer on paper, count only your first choice and read every explanation, including those for questions you got right.

The ten questions are original, cover all four CLF-C02 domains and are mapped to task statements. Allow 15 minutes. The real exam gives you 90 minutes for 65 questions, so this is a gentle pace check. Read the last line first, so you know whether you are choosing a service, a pricing option or a responsibility.

For the full list of task statements, read the AWS exam map.

Cloud concepts, security and compliance: five questions

Question 1 · Cloud Concepts · 1.1

A retailer's website traffic rises tenfold on sale days. Which cloud benefit lets it add capacity for the sale and release it afterwards?

A. Elasticity
B. High availability
C. A larger fixed server
D. Data replication

Show answer
Answer: A. Task 1.1 covers the benefits of the AWS Cloud. Elasticity means resources grow and shrink with demand, so you pay for what you use. B is the runner-up: high availability keeps a service running through failure, but it does not by itself match capacity to demand.

Question 2 · Cloud Concepts · 1.2

A review asks whether a workload can recover automatically from infrastructure or service disruptions. Which Well-Architected pillar does this describe?

A. Performance efficiency
B. Operational excellence
C. Reliability
D. Cost optimization

Show answer
Answer: C. Task 1.2 covers the design principles of the AWS Cloud. Reliability is the ability of a workload to recover from disruption and meet demand. B is the runner-up: operational excellence is about running and improving operations, not recovering from failure.

Question 3 · Security and Compliance · 2.1

A company runs its application on Amazon EC2 instances. Who is responsible for patching the guest operating system?

A. The customer
B. AWS
C. Both equally, through an automatic process
D. The Region's network team

Show answer
Answer: A. Task 2.1 covers the shared responsibility model. With EC2 you manage the operating system, patches and firewall settings. B is the runner-up: it is true of more managed services such as Amazon RDS, where AWS patches the database software, but not of EC2.

Question 4 · Security and Compliance · 2.2

An auditor asks for AWS's compliance reports. Where can the company download them?

A. AWS Config
B. AWS Shield
C. Amazon Inspector
D. AWS Artifact

Show answer
Answer: D. Task 2.2 covers governance and compliance. AWS Artifact is where you find compliance reports. A is the runner-up: AWS Config tracks how your own resource settings change, which is a different job.

Question 5 · Security and Compliance · 2.3

What is the best practice for the AWS account root user?

A. Share its credentials with the administrators through a password manager
B. Use it for daily administration, because it has full permissions
C. Turn on multi-factor authentication and use a separate user for daily tasks
D. Delete the root user once the account is set up

Show answer
Answer: C. Task 2.3 covers access management. The root user should be protected with MFA and not used for daily work. B is the runner-up: the root user does have full permissions, which is exactly why it should not be used day to day.

Technology, billing and support: five questions

Question 6 · Cloud Technology and Services · 3.6

Several Linux servers need to read and write the same files at the same time. Which storage service fits best?

A. Amazon S3
B. Amazon EBS
C. Amazon EFS
D. An EC2 instance store

Show answer
Answer: C. Task 3.6 covers storage services. Amazon EFS is a shared file system for many servers. B is the runner-up: Amazon EBS works like a disk for one server, so it does not suit simultaneous sharing.

Question 7 · Cloud Technology and Services · 3.4

A team wants a fully managed NoSQL key-value database. Which service should it choose?

A. Amazon RDS
B. Amazon DynamoDB
C. Amazon ElastiCache
D. AWS Database Migration Service

Show answer
Answer: B. Task 3.4 covers database services. DynamoDB is the managed NoSQL key-value database. A is the runner-up: Amazon RDS is a managed relational database. C is an in-memory cache, and D moves data between databases.

Question 8 · Cloud Technology and Services · 3.2

A company wants its application to stay available if an entire datacentre fails. What should it do?

A. Run one very large instance in one Availability Zone
B. Deploy across multiple Availability Zones in a Region
C. Rely on edge locations only
D. Choose a larger instance type

Show answer
Answer: B. Task 3.2 covers global infrastructure. Spreading resources across Availability Zones protects against the failure of one datacentre. D is the runner-up: a bigger instance improves capacity, not resilience to a failure.

Question 9 · Billing, Pricing, and Support · 4.1

A company runs a steady, predictable workload around the clock and wants to lower its compute bill by committing to an amount of hourly spend. Which option fits?

A. On-Demand pricing
B. Spot Instances
C. Savings Plans
D. Dedicated Hosts

Show answer
Answer: C. Task 4.1 covers pricing models. Savings Plans trade a commitment to hourly spend for a lower price. A is the runner-up: On-Demand works, but it is the most flexible and costs more for a steady load. B suits interruptible work.

Question 10 · Billing, Pricing, and Support · 4.2

A manager wants an email alert when spending goes over a set amount, before the bill arrives. Which tool does this?

A. AWS Cost Explorer
B. AWS Budgets
C. AWS Pricing Calculator
D. AWS Health

Show answer
Answer: B. Task 4.2 covers billing and cost management. AWS Budgets alerts you before you overspend. A is the runner-up: Cost Explorer analyses past spending but is not an alerting tool. C estimates cost before you build.

What do your misses tell you?

Count your first answers, then match each miss to a habit.

If you missed… The habit Do this
1 or 2 Treating concepts as vocabulary Say each benefit and each pillar in a sentence about a business
3, 4 or 5 Confusing who secures what Redraw the shared responsibility picture for EC2, RDS and Lambda
6, 7 or 8 Picking a service that sounds close Learn the contrasts in pairs: S3, EBS and EFS; RDS and DynamoDB
9 or 10 Mixing pricing with cost tools Separate how you buy compute from how you track spend

If you missed more than three, return to the study plan and move hours into stage C, practice by domain. If you missed none, try a full timed practice exam. Chapter 5 of CredenTrek For AWS Cloud Practitioner has you rate yourself on all 19 task statements, and Appendix G adds 7 more timed questions.

Your next step
  1. Answer all ten questions in 15 minutes, counting only your first choice.
  2. Write the task statement behind each miss and rate yourself from 1 to 5 on it.
  3. For each miss, write one sentence on why the runner-up fails.
  4. Check that your question bank names CLF-C02 and the current support plans.

Questions readers ask

Are these real AWS exam questions?
No. They were written for this page and are not AWS questions. Each is mapped to a task statement in the CLF-C02 exam guide. Use them to find weak habits, not to predict the wording you will see.
Why do two answers often look right?
Because many services have similar purposes. Read the last line of the question first, then remove options that do something different. Learn services as contrasts.
How do I choose a question bank?
Choose one and use it thoroughly. Check that it names CLF-C02, teaches the current support plans, explains every answer and states its refund policy in writing.
What practice results show I am ready?
Consistent results across two or three full practice exams, no domain far behind the others, and the ability to explain each service contrast aloud without notes.
Sources

This guide is independent and is not endorsed by Amazon Web Services. Facts change: confirm them on the official page before you act.