The correct answer is to use Route 53 failover routing policy with primary and secondary records and health checks. This configuration works because Route 53 continuously monitors the health of the primary ALB endpoint via an associated health check; when that health check fails, Route 53 automatically removes the primary record from DNS responses and begins returning the secondary region’s ALB record instead, enabling seamless disaster recovery. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to combine Route 53 routing policies with health checks for automated failover, often appearing as a trap where candidates confuse failover with weighted or latency-based routing. A common memory tip is to think of failover as a “binary switch” — it only flips when the primary is unhealthy, unlike weighted routing which constantly splits traffic. Remember: failover = health check + primary/secondary records; everything else is for performance or distribution, not automatic disaster recovery.
DOP-C02 Resilient Cloud Solutions Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of resilient cloud solutions. 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 has a production environment that uses Amazon Route 53 for DNS and an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to distribute traffic to EC2 instances. The company wants to implement a disaster recovery plan that automatically fails over to a secondary region in case the primary region becomes unavailable. Which configuration should be used?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Route 53 failover routing policy with primary and secondary records and health checks.
Option B is correct because Route 53 failover routing policy with health checks on the ALB endpoint can automatically route traffic to a secondary endpoint when the primary is unhealthy. Option A is wrong because weighted routing distributes traffic based on weights, not failover. Option C is wrong because latency routing routes based on latency, not automatic failover. Option D is wrong because geolocation routing routes based on geographic location, not failover.
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.
✗
Use Route 53 weighted routing policy with equal weights for both regions.
Why it's wrong here
Weighted routing does not provide automatic failover.
✗
Use Route 53 geolocation routing policy to route users based on their location.
Why it's wrong here
Geolocation routing does not automatically failover.
✓
Use Route 53 failover routing policy with primary and secondary records and health checks.
Why this is correct
Failover routing with health checks automatically redirects traffic if primary fails.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Route 53 latency routing policy to route to the region with lowest latency.
Why it's wrong here
Latency routing does not provide failover; it may still route to an unhealthy region.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 DOP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Resilient Cloud Solutions — This question tests Resilient Cloud Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Route 53 failover routing policy with primary and secondary records and health checks. — Option B is correct because Route 53 failover routing policy with health checks on the ALB endpoint can automatically route traffic to a secondary endpoint when the primary is unhealthy. Option A is wrong because weighted routing distributes traffic based on weights, not failover. Option C is wrong because latency routing routes based on latency, not automatic failover. Option D is wrong because geolocation routing routes based on geographic location, not failover.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DOP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This DOP-C02 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 DOP-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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