- A
Deploy the application across multiple AWS Regions.
Why wrong: This is incorrect because deploying across multiple Regions is a disaster recovery strategy for geographic failures, not the standard approach to protect against a single data center outage. It introduces higher latency and cost without providing the most direct solution for the stated requirement.
- B
Deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones within a single AWS Region.
This is correct. Each Availability Zone is a separate data center. Distributing the application across multiple AZs ensures that if one data center fails, the application continues running in another AZ, achieving high availability and fault tolerance.
- C
Deploy the application to an AWS Local Zone.
Why wrong: This is incorrect. Local Zones are extensions of an AWS Region that are placed close to large population centers to provide low-latency access. They do not offer the fault tolerance across data centers needed to survive an entire data center outage.
- D
Use an AWS Edge Location to cache the application's content.
Why wrong: This is incorrect. Edge Locations are part of the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network (CDN) and are used to cache static and dynamic content for faster delivery. They do not host application compute resources and cannot provide high availability against a data center failure.
Quick Answer
The answer is to deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones within a single AWS Region. This is correct because each Availability Zone is a physically separate data center with its own independent power, cooling, and networking, so if an entire AZ fails, the application continues serving traffic from the other AZs, ensuring high availability. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how AWS global infrastructure components achieve fault tolerance without the cost and latency of multi-Region setups. A common trap is confusing Availability Zones with Regions—remember that AZs are isolated within one Region, not across different geographic areas. For a memory tip, think of AZs as “independent backup buildings” on the same campus: if one building loses power, the others keep running.
CLF-C02 Cloud Concepts Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cloud concepts. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is designing a highly available web application on AWS. The application must remain available and continue serving traffic even if an entire physical data center experiences a complete outage. Which AWS global infrastructure component should the solutions architect use to meet this requirement?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones within a single AWS Region.
Option B is correct because deploying across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a single AWS Region protects against the failure of an entire physical data center. Each AZ is a distinct, isolated location with independent power, cooling, and networking, so if one AZ goes down, the application continues serving traffic from the other AZs. This design meets the requirement for high availability without the complexity and cost of multi-Region deployment.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy the application across multiple AWS Regions.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect because deploying across multiple Regions is a disaster recovery strategy for geographic failures, not the standard approach to protect against a single data center outage. It introduces higher latency and cost without providing the most direct solution for the stated requirement.
- ✓
Deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones within a single AWS Region.
Why this is correct
This is correct. Each Availability Zone is a separate data center. Distributing the application across multiple AZs ensures that if one data center fails, the application continues running in another AZ, achieving high availability and fault tolerance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy the application to an AWS Local Zone.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. Local Zones are extensions of an AWS Region that are placed close to large population centers to provide low-latency access. They do not offer the fault tolerance across data centers needed to survive an entire data center outage.
- ✗
Use an AWS Edge Location to cache the application's content.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. Edge Locations are part of the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network (CDN) and are used to cache static and dynamic content for faster delivery. They do not host application compute resources and cannot provide high availability against a data center failure.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse high availability (which requires multiple AZs) with disaster recovery (which requires multiple Regions), leading them to incorrectly choose multi-Region deployment when the question specifically asks about surviving a single data center outage.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, each Availability Zone is physically separate, typically miles apart, and connected via low-latency, redundant fiber links to the other AZs in the same Region. This architecture allows synchronous replication between AZs for services like Amazon RDS Multi-AZ or Amazon EBS, ensuring data durability and automatic failover. In a real-world scenario, a power grid failure or cooling system collapse in one AZ would not affect the others, enabling the application to continue serving traffic from the remaining AZs with no manual intervention.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Cloud Concepts — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Cloud Concepts — This question tests Cloud Concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones within a single AWS Region. — Option B is correct because deploying across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a single AWS Region protects against the failure of an entire physical data center. Each AZ is a distinct, isolated location with independent power, cooling, and networking, so if one AZ goes down, the application continues serving traffic from the other AZs. This design meets the requirement for high availability without the complexity and cost of multi-Region deployment.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company runs a customer-facing web application on AWS. To ensure the application remains available if a fire or flood destroys one of the company's data centers, the IT team deploys the application across multiple physically separate facilities within the same AWS Region. Each facility has independent power, cooling, and physical security. Which component of the AWS global infrastructure does this deployment strategy primarily use?
medium- A.AWS Regions
- ✓ B.Availability Zones
- C.Edge Locations
- D.Local Zones
Why B: Availability Zones are distinct, physically separated locations within an AWS Region, each with independent power, cooling, and physical security. Deploying across multiple Availability Zones protects against data center-level failures like fires or floods, ensuring high availability for the application.
Variation 2. A company runs a critical e-commerce application in a single AWS Region. The architecture team wants to ensure the application remains available even if an entire data center fails. They plan to deploy the application across multiple physically separate and independent locations within that Region. Which component of the AWS global infrastructure should the team use to achieve this goal?
medium- ✓ A.Availability Zones
- B.Edge Locations
- C.AWS Local Zones
- D.AWS Regions
Why A: Availability Zones (AZs) are physically separate and independent data centers within an AWS Region, each with isolated power, cooling, and networking. By deploying the application across multiple AZs, the architecture ensures that if one entire data center fails, the application continues to run in the other AZs, meeting the goal of high availability within a single Region.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.
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