Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment, as it delivers both automatic failover and read replicas for web applications. This service provisions a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone, so if the primary instance fails, RDS automatically flips the DNS to the standby with no manual intervention, ensuring high availability. For read scaling, you can add up to five MySQL read replicas in separate AZs or regions, offloading read traffic without affecting the primary. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the distinction between Multi-AZ (for failover) and read replicas (for performance); a common trap is confusing Multi-AZ with read replicas or assuming Multi-AZ alone provides read scaling. Remember the mnemonic: “Multi-AZ for failover, read replicas for load—together they cover high availability and scale.”
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of deployment and migration. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is deploying a new web application and needs a fully managed relational database with automatic failover and read replicas. Which AWS service should they choose?
Amazon DynamoDB
Why wrong: DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not relational.
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment
RDS is fully managed, Multi-AZ provides automatic failover, and read replicas are supported.
Amazon EC2 with self-managed MySQL
Why wrong: EC2 is not fully managed; requires manual administration and failover setup.
Amazon Redshift
Why wrong: Redshift is a data warehouse, not designed for OLTP web applications.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment provides a fully managed relational database service that automatically provisions and maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone. In the event of a failure, Amazon RDS automatically fails over to the standby, ensuring high availability. Additionally, RDS for MySQL supports read replicas for offloading read traffic, which meets the requirement for both automatic failover and read replicas.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not relational.
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment
Why this is correct
RDS is fully managed, Multi-AZ provides automatic failover, and read replicas are supported.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon EC2 with self-managed MySQL
Why it's wrong here
EC2 is not fully managed; requires manual administration and failover setup.
Amazon Redshift
Why it's wrong here
Redshift is a data warehouse, not designed for OLTP web applications.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse DynamoDB's high availability and read replicas (DAX, global tables) with relational database requirements, or they assume that a self-managed database on EC2 can be 'fully managed' by using automation scripts, but the question explicitly requires a fully managed service.
Detailed technical explanation
Multi-AZ deployments for RDS use synchronous replication to the standby instance, ensuring zero data loss during failover (asynchronous replication is used for cross-Region read replicas). The failover is automatically triggered by Amazon RDS when it detects a primary instance failure, typically completing within 1-2 minutes. Read replicas in RDS for MySQL use MySQL's native asynchronous replication and can be promoted to a standalone instance if needed, but they do not automatically become the new primary during a Multi-AZ failover.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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Deployment and Migration — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Deployment and Migration — This question tests Deployment and Migration — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment — Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment provides a fully managed relational database service that automatically provisions and maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone. In the event of a failure, Amazon RDS automatically fails over to the standby, ensuring high availability. Additionally, RDS for MySQL supports read replicas for offloading read traffic, which meets the requirement for both automatic failover and read replicas.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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