What is the key difference between Standard Reserved Instances and Convertible Reserved Instances?

• A. Standard RIs can be exchanged for others; Convertible cannot
• B. Convertible RIs are more flexible and allow exchanges for other reservations
• C. Standard RIs apply to storage services; Convertible to EC2
• D. Convertible RIs are more expensive than Standard RIs

Answer: (B)

Flexibility over time is what distinguishes Convertible Reserved Instances from Standard ones. Standard RIs lock you into a specific instance type, region, operating system, and tenancy for a set term, offering a strong discount but not allowing changes once purchased. Convertible RIs are designed to adapt: you can exchange your Convertible RI for another reservation that has different attributes (such as instance type, family, OS, or tenancy) within the same region, as long as the new reservation has equal or greater value. This ability to swap makes Convertible RIs more flexible when workloads evolve. The other statements miss the key point: Standard RIs cannot be exchanged, Reserved Instances apply to EC2 compute rather than storage, and price differences aren’t the defining factor—the exchange capability is.