DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company is designing a database for a global e-commerce platform with strong consistency requirements. The database must support cross-region disaster recovery with RPO < 1 second and RTO < 1 minute. Which TWO AWS database services meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Multi-AZ (single-region HA) with cross-region DR, or assume that snapshot-based replication (like Redshift) can meet sub-second RPO, when in reality only continuous replication services like Aurora Global Database and DynamoDB Global Tables can achieve such low RPO and RTO.
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
✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database
Amazon Aurora Global Database uses storage-based replication with a typical latency of under 1 second, supporting cross-region disaster recovery with an RPO of less than 1 second and an RTO of less than 1 minute by promoting a secondary region to primary. Amazon DynamoDB Global Tables provide multi-region, fully replicated tables with strong consistency and automatic failover, achieving RPO of less than 1 second and RTO of less than 1 minute through active-active replication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database
Why this is correct
Aurora Global Database replicates across regions with RPO of 1 second and RTO of 1 minute.
- ✗
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ is single-region, not cross-region.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift with cross-region snapshot copy
Why it's wrong here
Redshift is a data warehouse, not suitable for transactional workloads requiring low RPO/RTO.
- ✗
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis with Global Datastore
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache Global Datastore provides cross-region replication but is in-memory and not durable for primary data.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB Global Tables
Why this is correct
DynamoDB Global Tables provide multi-region replication with low RPO and fast failover.
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DBS-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 1,663-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DBS-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 DBS-C01 exam.