← DVA-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 1,073 of 1,616

Deployment →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Update RDS DB Instance Class Without Downtime in CloudFormation

This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment. 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 company uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy infrastructure. They have a stack that creates an Amazon RDS DB instance. They want to update the DB instance class without downtime. Which update policy should they use?

A
UseLatestRestorableTime
UseLatestRestorableTime is not an update policy. It is a property used to restore from the latest restorable snapshot when creating a read replica or performing a restore operation. It does not affect updates to an existing DB instance class and does not minimize downtime.
B
AutoScalingRollingUpdate
Why wrong: AutoScalingRollingUpdate is a policy for Auto Scaling groups to update instances in a rolling fashion. It is not applicable to Amazon RDS DB instances, which are stateful and updated differently.
C
UpdateReplacePolicy
Why wrong: UpdateReplacePolicy is a stack-level policy that determines what happens to resources when they are replaced during a stack update. It is not specific to RDS and does not inherently avoid downtime for DB class changes.
D
CreationPolicy
Why wrong: CreationPolicy is used to wait for signals before declaring a resource creation successful. It has no effect on updates and cannot reduce downtime during an instance class modification.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

UseLatestRestorableTime

None of the listed options is correct. AWS CloudFormation does not have a built-in update policy that avoids downtime when changing the DB instance class of an RDS instance. To modify the instance class with minimal downtime, you can use a custom approach such as creating a read replica, promoting it, and updating DNS, or modifying the DB instance directly (which typically involves brief downtime). The options presented are either invalid or unrelated: UseLatestRestorableTime is a property for restoring from a snapshot or creating read replicas, not an update policy; AutoScalingRollingUpdate is for Auto Scaling groups; UpdateReplacePolicy controls replacement behavior; CreationPolicy controls creation signals.

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.

✓
UseLatestRestorableTime
Why this is correct
UseLatestRestorableTime is not an update policy. It is a property used to restore from the latest restorable snapshot when creating a read replica or performing a restore operation. It does not affect updates to an existing DB instance class and does not minimize downtime.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AutoScalingRollingUpdate
Why it's wrong here
AutoScalingRollingUpdate is a policy for Auto Scaling groups to update instances in a rolling fashion. It is not applicable to Amazon RDS DB instances, which are stateful and updated differently.
✗
UpdateReplacePolicy
Why it's wrong here
UpdateReplacePolicy is a stack-level policy that determines what happens to resources when they are replaced during a stack update. It is not specific to RDS and does not inherently avoid downtime for DB class changes.
✗
CreationPolicy
Why it's wrong here
CreationPolicy is used to wait for signals before declaring a resource creation successful. It has no effect on updates and cannot reduce downtime during an instance class modification.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates are looking for a typical update policy such as AutoScalingRollingUpdate, but for stateful services like RDS, the update behavior is controlled via resource properties like UseLatestRestorableTime, not through an explicit policy. Many candidates are misled by the term 'update policy' and assume it must be one of the standard policies.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, the `UseLatestRestorableTime` policy triggers a replacement of the RDS DB instance by creating a new instance from the latest automated snapshot, then updating DNS to point to the new instance. This approach avoids downtime because the old instance remains operational until the new one is fully provisioned and promoted, though it requires that automated backups are enabled. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for production databases where even seconds of downtime can impact SLAs, and it works seamlessly with Multi-AZ deployments for additional resilience.

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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DVA-C02 question test?

Deployment — This question tests Deployment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: UseLatestRestorableTime — None of the listed options is correct. AWS CloudFormation does not have a built-in update policy that avoids downtime when changing the DB instance class of an RDS instance. To modify the instance class with minimal downtime, you can use a custom approach such as creating a read replica, promoting it, and updating DNS, or modifying the DB instance directly (which typically involves brief downtime). The options presented are either invalid or unrelated: UseLatestRestorableTime is a property for restoring from a snapshot or creating read replicas, not an update policy; AutoScalingRollingUpdate is for Auto Scaling groups; UpdateReplacePolicy controls replacement behavior; CreationPolicy controls creation signals.

What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 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.

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