This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 needs to set up a new Amazon RDS for MySQL database for a web application. The application experiences variable read traffic and requires low read latency. The engineer needs to minimize downtime during maintenance and provide read scalability. Which configuration meets these requirements?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
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 the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Multi-AZ db.r5.large instance with two Read Replicas
Option A is correct because a Multi-AZ deployment provides high availability and automatic failover to minimize downtime during maintenance, while adding two Read Replicas offloads read traffic from the primary instance, reducing read latency and enabling read scalability. The db.r5.large instance size is sufficient for the variable read workload, and Read Replicas can be promoted to standalone instances if needed.
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.
✓
Multi-AZ db.r5.large instance with two Read Replicas
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ provides failover, and Read Replicas provide read scalability.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Multi-AZ db.r5.large instance
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ provides failover but not read scaling.
✗
Single-AZ db.r5.large instance
Why it's wrong here
Single-AZ does not provide automatic failover or read scaling.
✗
Single-AZ db.r5.xlarge instance
Why it's wrong here
Single-AZ does not provide failover, and a larger instance alone does not provide read scaling.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume Multi-AZ alone provides read scalability, but Multi-AZ only provides high availability and failover, not read offloading—Read Replicas are required for read scaling.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ uses synchronous replication to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone, ensuring automatic failover with minimal downtime (typically 60-120 seconds). Read Replicas use asynchronous replication (based on MySQL's native binlog replication) and can be placed in different regions for global read scaling; they support up to 5 direct replicas per primary instance, and each replica can have its own Multi-AZ configuration. In practice, for a web application with spiky read traffic, distributing reads across replicas reduces contention on the primary and improves query response times under load.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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: Multi-AZ db.r5.large instance with two Read Replicas — Option A is correct because a Multi-AZ deployment provides high availability and automatic failover to minimize downtime during maintenance, while adding two Read Replicas offloads read traffic from the primary instance, reducing read latency and enabling read scalability. The db.r5.large instance size is sufficient for the variable read workload, and Read Replicas can be promoted to standalone instances if needed.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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