The best solution is to host static content in Amazon S3, dynamic content with Amazon API Gateway and AWS Lambda, use Amazon DynamoDB with on-demand capacity, and deliver content with Amazon CloudFront. This architecture is entirely serverless, removing the need for provisioning, patching, or scaling infrastructure manually.

DynamoDB on-demand mode is the key differentiator here. It provides a fully managed, serverless database experience that automatically adjusts read and write throughput to match traffic levels. It can instantly double capacity compared to the previously observed peak and continues to scale smoothly if traffic continues to grow gradually. Costs are based solely on the number of requests performed, which aligns perfectly with workloads that may be spiky or unpredictable. There's no charge for unused capacity, making this cost-effective for bursty or variable workloads.

Why the other options are incorrect:

Using Amazon Aurora with Aurora Auto Scaling still requires some operational overhead for cluster management, monitoring, and scaling configuration. Its not serverless in the same sense as DynamoDB, and the pay-per-use model is less granular than DynamoDBs request-based pricing.

Hosting content entirely on EC2 instances, even with Auto Scaling and an Application Load Balancer, introduces significant operational responsibilities such as OS updates, instance health checks, and scaling logic. This also does not eliminate idle costs, as EC2 instances are billed whether traffic is high or low.

The EC2 + DynamoDB option is better than Aurora in terms of scaling the database, but EC2 still requires managing infrastructure and doesn't align with the goal of zero server maintenance.

Why this question matters: This question tests your understanding of AWS serverless architectures and the advanced scaling capabilities of DynamoDB on-demand. Recognizing when DynamoDBs pricing, latency, and capacity model fits a use case is a key skill for solution architects working with variable or unpredictable workloads.

Exam tip: When a question emphasizes no server maintenance, automatic scaling, unpredictable workloads, and a cost model that avoids paying for idle resources, a fully serverless solution with DynamoDB on-demand is likely the correct choice.

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