The answer is to enable automated backups with cross-Region copy and configure a cross-Region read replica. This combination works because the read replica provides a fully provisioned, continuously synchronized secondary database in a different AWS Region that can be promoted to a standalone primary in minutes, easily meeting the 1-hour RTO, while automated backups with cross-Region copy add a point-in-time recovery safety net in case replication lags or fails. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of balancing RTO and RPO for RDS cross-region disaster recovery—a common trap is choosing manual snapshot copy alone, which cannot meet a 1-hour RTO due to restore times. Remember the memory tip: “Replica for rapid recovery, backups for safety net” to distinguish the two actions.
DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. 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 data engineer is designing a disaster recovery plan for an Amazon RDS for MySQL database. The database must be recoverable within 1 hour in a different AWS Region. Which TWO actions should the engineer take?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a cross-Region read replica.
A cross-Region read replica for Amazon RDS for MySQL provides a fully provisioned secondary database in a different AWS Region that can be promoted to a standalone primary in minutes, meeting the 1-hour recovery time objective (RTO). This approach ensures continuous replication from the source database, minimizing data loss and enabling rapid failover without manual snapshot management.
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.
✓
Create a cross-Region read replica.
Why this is correct
A read replica can be promoted to a primary in another Region for disaster recovery.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable Multi-AZ deployment.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ provides failover within the same Region.
✓
Enable automated backups with cross-Region copy.
Why this is correct
Cross-Region backups allow recovery in another Region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Take manual snapshots and copy them to an S3 bucket in the other Region.
Why it's wrong here
Manual snapshots require manual intervention and are not automated.
✗
Use Amazon EventBridge to schedule snapshot copies.
Why it's wrong here
EventBridge can trigger Lambda but does not directly manage cross-Region backup automation.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Multi-AZ (high availability within a Region) with cross-Region disaster recovery, or they assume that scheduling snapshot copies via EventBridge is sufficient for fast recovery, ignoring the significant restore time required for snapshots.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cross-Region read replicas use MySQL's asynchronous replication (based on binary log positions) to maintain a consistent copy in another Region, allowing promotion to a standalone instance in under 1 hour for most workloads. Automated backups with cross-Region copy, when combined with point-in-time recovery (PITR), enable restoring to any second within the backup retention period, but the restore operation can take longer than promoting a read replica, especially for large databases. In a real-world scenario, a financial services firm requiring sub-1-hour RTO would choose cross-Region read replicas for near-instant failover, while automated cross-Region backups serve as a complementary backup strategy for longer-term retention.
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.
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.
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a cross-Region read replica. — A cross-Region read replica for Amazon RDS for MySQL provides a fully provisioned secondary database in a different AWS Region that can be promoted to a standalone primary in minutes, meeting the 1-hour recovery time objective (RTO). This approach ensures continuous replication from the source database, minimizing data loss and enabling rapid failover without manual snapshot management.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 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 →
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 data engineer is designing a disaster recovery strategy for an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. The primary database is in us-east-1. Which TWO approaches provide cross-region disaster recovery?
medium
✓ A.Configure cross-region automated backups to copy to us-west-2.
B.Take a manual snapshot and copy it to us-west-2 daily.
C.Use Amazon S3 cross-region replication for the database export.
D.Enable Multi-AZ in us-east-1.
✓ E.Create a cross-region read replica in us-west-2.
Why A: Cross-region read replica can be promoted to a primary in another region. Cross-region automated backups can be restored to a different region. Multi-AZ is within a region. Snapshots are manual and region-specific unless copied.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
Question Discussion
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This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.
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