- A
Backup and Restore
Why wrong: Backup and Restore stores periodic backups to S3 but requires full provisioning of all resources during recovery — highest RTO, lowest cost, no continuous replication.
- B
Pilot Light
Pilot Light keeps a minimal environment running (data replication, database) with compute resources ready to be quickly provisioned only when a disaster is declared, balancing cost and RTO.
- C
Warm Standby
Why wrong: Warm Standby runs a scaled-down but fully functional environment continuously — more costly than Pilot Light because compute is always running, but with faster RTO.
- D
Multi-Site Active/Active
Why wrong: Active/Active runs full production capacity in both AWS and on-premises simultaneously — near-zero RTO but the highest cost of all DR strategies.
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 needs to implement a disaster recovery strategy where data is continuously replicated to AWS but AWS compute resources are only started during a declared disaster. Which DR strategy does this describe?
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
Pilot Light
The Pilot Light strategy involves continuously replicating data to AWS (e.g., using AWS Database Migration Service or S3 replication) while keeping only a minimal core set of AWS resources (like a small EC2 instance or RDS database) running. Compute resources are not fully provisioned until a disaster is declared, at which point they are scaled up to handle production traffic. This matches the description of data being continuously replicated but compute only started during a declared disaster.
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.
- ✗
Backup and Restore
Why it's wrong here
Backup and Restore stores periodic backups to S3 but requires full provisioning of all resources during recovery — highest RTO, lowest cost, no continuous replication.
- ✓
Pilot Light
Why this is correct
Pilot Light keeps a minimal environment running (data replication, database) with compute resources ready to be quickly provisioned only when a disaster is declared, balancing cost and RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Warm Standby
Why it's wrong here
Warm Standby runs a scaled-down but fully functional environment continuously — more costly than Pilot Light because compute is always running, but with faster RTO.
- ✗
Multi-Site Active/Active
Why it's wrong here
Active/Active runs full production capacity in both AWS and on-premises simultaneously — near-zero RTO but the highest cost of all DR strategies.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'Pilot Light' with 'Warm Standby' because both involve some pre-provisioned resources, but Pilot Light keeps compute resources minimal and inactive until failover, whereas Warm Standby runs a scaled-down but fully operational environment.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Pilot Light uses services like AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (AWS DRS) or continuous replication to keep data synchronized, while the 'light' environment typically includes a small EC2 instance running the application stack and a minimal database (e.g., a single-AZ RDS instance). During failover, AWS Auto Scaling and Elastic Load Balancing are used to scale out compute resources, and Route 53 DNS records are updated to redirect traffic. This strategy offers a balance between cost (low ongoing compute cost) and recovery time (typically minutes to hours), making it suitable for workloads with moderate RTO/RPO requirements.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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: Pilot Light — The Pilot Light strategy involves continuously replicating data to AWS (e.g., using AWS Database Migration Service or S3 replication) while keeping only a minimal core set of AWS resources (like a small EC2 instance or RDS database) running. Compute resources are not fully provisioned until a disaster is declared, at which point they are scaled up to handle production traffic. This matches the description of data being continuously replicated but compute only started during a declared disaster.
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.
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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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