- A
Single-AZ with automated backups
Why wrong: Does not protect against AZ failure.
- B
Multi-AZ deployment with one standby in a different AZ
Provides automatic failover and high availability.
- C
Multi-AZ with two readable standbys
Why wrong: Not a supported configuration; Multi-AZ has one standby.
- D
Single-AZ with a read replica
Why wrong: Read replica does not provide automatic failover.
Question 1,141 of 1,786
Configuring High Availability for Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ Deployment
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 PostgreSQL database for a production workload. The database must be highly available and resilient to a single Availability Zone failure. Which configuration should the engineer choose?
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
✓
Multi-AZ deployment with one standby in a different AZ
Option B is correct because a Multi-AZ deployment for Amazon RDS PostgreSQL automatically provisions and maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone. This configuration provides automatic failover in the event of an AZ failure, ensuring high availability and resilience without manual intervention. The synchronous replication ensures zero data loss during failover, which is critical for production workloads.
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.
- ✗
Single-AZ with automated backups
Why it's wrong here
Does not protect against AZ failure.
- ✓
Multi-AZ deployment with one standby in a different AZ
Why this is correct
Provides automatic failover and high availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Multi-AZ with two readable standbys
Why it's wrong here
Not a supported configuration; Multi-AZ has one standby.
- ✗
Single-AZ with a read replica
Why it's wrong here
Read replica does not provide automatic failover.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Multi-AZ with read replicas, assuming that a read replica can serve as a failover target, but in RDS PostgreSQL, read replicas are asynchronous and require manual promotion, making them unsuitable for automatic high availability against AZ failures.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In a Multi-AZ deployment, Amazon RDS uses synchronous replication from the primary to the standby instance in a different AZ, leveraging PostgreSQL's streaming replication with the 'synchronous_commit' parameter set to 'on' to ensure durability. During a failover, the DNS record is automatically updated to point to the standby, which is promoted to the new primary, typically within 1-2 minutes. A real-world scenario where this matters is during an AWS hardware or power failure in one AZ, where the Multi-AZ setup ensures the database remains accessible with no data loss, unlike a read replica which may lag behind.
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.
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Data Store Management — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DEA-C01 question test?
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 deployment with one standby in a different AZ — Option B is correct because a Multi-AZ deployment for Amazon RDS PostgreSQL automatically provisions and maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone. This configuration provides automatic failover in the event of an AZ failure, ensuring high availability and resilience without manual intervention. The synchronous replication ensures zero data loss during failover, which is critical for production workloads.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on DEA-C01
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 engineering team is migrating a MySQL database to Amazon RDS for MySQL. They need to ensure high availability and automated failover. Which THREE configurations should they implement?
easy- A.Enable Enhanced Monitoring.
- ✓ B.Enable automated backups with a retention period.
- ✓ C.Enable Multi-AZ deployment.
- ✓ D.Configure a DB subnet group with subnets in at least two Availability Zones.
- E.Create a read replica in a different region.
Why B: Option B is correct because automated backups with a retention period enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) and are required for Multi-AZ failover to function properly. RDS uses automated backups to keep the standby instance synchronized and to support recovery after a failover event.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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