- A
Pilot Light
Why wrong: Pilot Light keeps minimal infrastructure running (databases with data replicated) — more costly than pure backup-and-restore but faster recovery.
- B
Warm Standby
Why wrong: Warm Standby runs a scaled-down full environment continuously — more costly than Pilot Light, much more than Backup and Restore.
- C
Backup and Restore
Backup and Restore has the lowest cost — only backup storage (S3/Glacier) is paid during normal operations, with no running infrastructure. RTO is hours but cost is minimal.
- D
Multi-Site Active/Active
Why wrong: Active/Active is the highest-cost DR strategy — full production capacity runs in both environments simultaneously for near-zero RTO.
Question 195 of 1,024
CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cloud technology and services. 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 wants to use AWS for disaster recovery but wants to minimize costs. They only need backups of their data, with recovery taking several hours if disaster strikes. Which DR strategy requires the least investment?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"least"Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
✓
Backup and Restore
The Backup and Restore strategy (Option C) requires the least investment because it involves periodically copying data to low-cost storage like Amazon S3 (including S3 Glacier for archival) and only restoring infrastructure when needed. This approach has the highest Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO), often measured in hours, which aligns with the requirement of minimizing costs while tolerating several hours for recovery.
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.
- ✗
Pilot Light
Why it's wrong here
Pilot Light keeps minimal infrastructure running (databases with data replicated) — more costly than pure backup-and-restore but faster recovery.
- ✗
Warm Standby
Why it's wrong here
Warm Standby runs a scaled-down full environment continuously — more costly than Pilot Light, much more than Backup and Restore.
- ✓
Backup and Restore
Why this is correct
Backup and Restore has the lowest cost — only backup storage (S3/Glacier) is paid during normal operations, with no running infrastructure. RTO is hours but cost is minimal.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "least", "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Multi-Site Active/Active
Why it's wrong here
Active/Active is the highest-cost DR strategy — full production capacity runs in both environments simultaneously for near-zero RTO.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'least investment' with 'fastest recovery,' leading them to choose Pilot Light or Warm Standby, but the question explicitly prioritizes minimizing costs over recovery speed, making Backup and Restore the correct choice despite its longer RTO.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Backup and Restore typically uses AWS Backup or custom scripts to create EBS snapshots and RDS snapshots, stored in S3 with lifecycle policies transitioning to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for cost savings. During recovery, you must provision new EC2 instances, restore volumes from snapshots, and reconfigure networking (VPC, subnets, security groups), which explains the multi-hour RTO. A real-world scenario is a company using AWS Backup to snapshot a 1 TB database daily, storing it in S3 Glacier for $0.00099/GB/month, and only spinning up a replacement instance in a different Region when the primary fails.
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.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Cloud Technology and Services — This question tests Cloud Technology and Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Backup and Restore — The Backup and Restore strategy (Option C) requires the least investment because it involves periodically copying data to low-cost storage like Amazon S3 (including S3 Glacier for archival) and only restoring infrastructure when needed. This approach has the highest Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO), often measured in hours, which aligns with the requirement of minimizing costs while tolerating several hours for recovery.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least", "minimum / minimize". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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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