Top 10 AWS Scenario-Based Questions for DevOps Engineers in 2025

As organizations increasingly adopt cloud technologies, the demand for skilled DevOps engineers with expertise in Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to grow. Beyond theoretical knowledge, recruiters now focus on real-world problem-solving skills through scenario-based questions during interviews. These questions assess how well candidates can design, implement, and troubleshoot AWS solutions in practical situations.

In this article, we’ll dive into the top 10 AWS scenario-based questions for DevOps engineers in 2025, breaking down each scenario to help you prepare effectively.

Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash

1. Scenario: High Availability for a Web Application

Question:
Your company runs a web application on AWS EC2 instances in a single Availability Zone. The company wants to make the application highly available and fault-tolerant. What changes would you make to the current architecture?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Knowledge of multi-AZ deployments
• Load balancing with Elastic Load Balancer (ELB)
• Autoscaling strategies

Answer:

• Migrate the application to run across multiple Availability Zones.
• Set up an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to distribute traffic across EC2 instances in different AZs.
• Enable Autoscaling Groups to ensure instances are added or removed based on traffic demands.
• Use an RDS Multi-AZ setup if a relational database is part of the application.
• Store static assets in S3 with CloudFront as the CDN for performance improvements.

2. Scenario: Handling Large Traffic Spikes

Question:
Your e-commerce application experiences sudden traffic spikes during seasonal sales. How would you ensure the application can handle these spikes without downtime?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Understanding of scaling and elasticity in AWS
• Cost-effective resource utilization

Answer:

• Implement Autoscaling Groups with scaling policies based on CPU utilization, request count, or target tracking.
• Use an Elastic Load Balancer to distribute traffic evenly across healthy instances.
• Cache frequently accessed data using Amazon ElastiCache or CloudFront.
• Ensure databases can handle the load by using Aurora Serverless or read replicas.

3. Scenario: Securing S3 Buckets

Question:
You’ve been informed that an S3 bucket containing sensitive data is publicly accessible. How would you secure the bucket and ensure such issues don’t occur in the future?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Understanding of S3 security best practices
• Proactive monitoring and prevention strategies

Answer:

• Remove public access by modifying the bucket policy and disabling the “Block Public Access” settings.
• Implement IAM roles and policies to restrict access to specific users or applications.
• Enable S3 server-side encryption (SSE-S3 or SSE-KMS).
• Set up AWS Config Rules to continuously monitor and notify if a bucket becomes public.
• Use Amazon Macie to classify and protect sensitive data stored in S3.

4. Scenario: Disaster Recovery

Question:
Your application is running in one region, and your organization requires a disaster recovery solution in case of a regional outage. What would you propose?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Understanding of disaster recovery strategies in AWS
• Cost-effective planning

Answer:

• Set up Cross-Region Replication for S3 buckets and read replicas for RDS in a secondary region.
• Use Route 53 with failover routing to redirect traffic to the DR region during an outage.
• Create backups using AWS Backup or regular snapshots for EC2 and databases.
• For mission-critical systems, implement Active-Active Multi-Region architecture using Global Accelerator.

5. Scenario: CI/CD Pipeline Setup

Question:
How would you design a CI/CD pipeline for an application hosted on AWS?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Knowledge of DevOps tools and integration with AWS services

Answer:

• Use AWS CodePipeline for the CI/CD workflow.
• Integrate with AWS CodeCommit (or GitHub) for source control and CodeBuild for build automation.
• Automate deployments using AWS CodeDeploy for EC2 or Lambda functions.
• Use CloudFormation or Terraform for infrastructure-as-code to ensure repeatable environments.
• Set up testing stages and rollback mechanisms in case of deployment failures.

6. Scenario: Cost Optimization

Question:
Your organization is experiencing high AWS costs. How would you identify and reduce unnecessary expenses?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Ability to optimize cloud usage effectively

Answer:

• Use AWS Cost Explorer and Trusted Advisor to analyze resource utilization and identify underutilized services.
• Implement Reserved Instances or Savings Plans for predictable workloads.
• Schedule non-production EC2 instances to stop during off-hours using Instance Scheduler.
• Optimize storage by moving infrequently accessed S3 objects to S3 Glacier or S3 Intelligent-Tiering.

7. Scenario: Migrating On-Premises to AWS

Question:
Your company wants to migrate an on-premises application to AWS with minimal downtime. How would you approach the migration?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Knowledge of migration tools and strategies

Answer:

• Use AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) for lift-and-shift migrations.
• Set up a hybrid architecture using Direct Connect or VPN for data transfer.
• Perform incremental migrations and validate in staging before final cutover.
• Leverage AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for database migration with minimal downtime.

8. Scenario: Monitoring and Logging

Question:
How would you ensure robust monitoring and logging for an application running on AWS?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Familiarity with AWS monitoring tools

Answer:

• Use CloudWatch Logs and CloudWatch Metrics to collect and analyze logs and performance data.
• Set up CloudWatch Alarms to notify based on thresholds or anomalies.
• Implement AWS X-Ray for distributed tracing of microservices.
• Enable VPC Flow Logs for network monitoring.

9. Scenario: Kubernetes on AWS

Question:
Your team is migrating containerized applications to AWS. Would you choose ECS or EKS, and why?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Knowledge of AWS container services and their use cases

Answer:

• Choose EKS if the team is experienced with Kubernetes or requires multi-cloud compatibility.
• Choose ECS for simpler use cases with tighter AWS integration and no Kubernetes overhead.
• Use Fargate for both ECS and EKS to eliminate the need for managing underlying infrastructure.

10. Scenario: Implementing Zero Downtime Deployment

Question:
How would you design a zero-downtime deployment process for an application running on AWS?

What the interviewer is assessing:

• Understanding of deployment strategies and best practices

Answer:

• Use Blue/Green Deployment with Elastic Beanstalk or CodeDeploy to shift traffic gradually to the new version.
• Implement Canary Deployments using Route 53 weighted routing policies.
• Roll back automatically in case of failures detected through health checks or monitoring.

Final Thoughts

These scenario-based AWS interview questions are designed to test your practical knowledge, decision-making abilities, and problem-solving skills in a real-world environment. To excel in these interviews, focus on building a strong foundation in AWS services, keeping up with best practices, and gaining hands-on experience with various scenarios.

Pro Tip: During interviews, explain your thought process clearly and always justify why you chose a particular solution. This approach will help you stand out as a confident and competent DevOps engineer.

Connect with Me on LinkedIn

Thank you for reading! If you found these DevOps insights helpful and would like to stay connected, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn. I regularly share content on DevOps best practices, interview preparation, and career development. Let’s connect and grow together in the world of DevOps!