- A
Use backup and restore with daily snapshots stored in S3 and cross-Region replication.
Why wrong: Daily snapshots lead to up to 24 hours of data loss, exceeding RPO of 1 hour.
- B
Use a multi-Region application with Route 53 latency-based routing and RDS read replicas in the DR Region.
Why wrong: Read replicas are asynchronous and promote manually; failover may take more than 15 minutes.
- C
Use a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, and replicate data using RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication.
Warm standby allows quick failover; synchronous replication meets RPO of 1 hour.
- D
Use a pilot light strategy with EC2 instances stopped and RDS snapshots copied to the DR Region.
Why wrong: Starting EC2 instances from AMIs and restoring RDS from snapshots takes longer than 15 minutes.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, combined with RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication. This approach directly satisfies the strict disaster recovery requirements of a 15-minute RTO and a 1-hour RPO because Multi-AZ synchronous replication provides near-zero data loss, achieving an RPO measured in seconds, while the warm standby environment can be rapidly scaled up to full capacity to meet the RTO. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to match recovery strategies to specific RTO and RPO thresholds, with a common trap being to confuse warm standby with pilot light or multi-site active-active setups. Remember that warm standby is the middle ground: it keeps a scaled-down copy running and ready, unlike pilot light which requires more provisioning steps, and unlike multi-site which is fully active. A useful memory tip is “Warm Standby = Scaled Down + Sync Replication” to hit tight RTO and RPO targets.
DOP-C02 Resilient Cloud Solutions Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of resilient cloud solutions. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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's DevOps team is designing a disaster recovery plan for a critical application. The application runs on EC2 instances with an RDS MySQL database. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is 15 minutes, and the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 1 hour. Which approach BEST meets these requirements?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Use a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, and replicate data using RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication.
Option C is correct because a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, combined with RDS Multi-AZ using synchronous replication, meets the RTO of 15 minutes and RPO of 1 hour. Multi-AZ synchronous replication ensures zero data loss (RPO of seconds) and automatic failover within minutes, while the warm standby environment can be scaled up quickly to handle production traffic, satisfying the RTO.
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 backup and restore with daily snapshots stored in S3 and cross-Region replication.
Why it's wrong here
Daily snapshots lead to up to 24 hours of data loss, exceeding RPO of 1 hour.
- ✗
Use a multi-Region application with Route 53 latency-based routing and RDS read replicas in the DR Region.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas are asynchronous and promote manually; failover may take more than 15 minutes.
- ✓
Use a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, and replicate data using RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication.
Why this is correct
Warm standby allows quick failover; synchronous replication meets RPO of 1 hour.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a pilot light strategy with EC2 instances stopped and RDS snapshots copied to the DR Region.
Why it's wrong here
Starting EC2 instances from AMIs and restoring RDS from snapshots takes longer than 15 minutes.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Multi-AZ (which is for high availability within a Region) with cross-Region disaster recovery, but the question's RTO/RPO requirements are met by combining Multi-AZ synchronous replication (for near-zero RPO) with a warm standby environment (for fast RTO), not by using asynchronous read replicas or snapshot-based approaches.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication uses a primary and standby instance in different Availability Zones within the same Region, but for cross-Region DR, you would configure a cross-Region read replica with synchronous replication (if using Amazon Aurora) or use a Multi-AZ deployment in the DR Region with data replicated via AWS Database Migration Service or binlog replication. The warm standby strategy involves maintaining a scaled-down copy of the environment that can be promoted to full production within minutes, leveraging Auto Scaling and pre-warmed resources to meet the 15-minute RTO.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DOP-C02 question test?
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 a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, and replicate data using RDS Multi-AZ with synchronous replication. — Option C is correct because a warm standby strategy with a scaled-down copy of the production environment in the DR Region, combined with RDS Multi-AZ using synchronous replication, meets the RTO of 15 minutes and RPO of 1 hour. Multi-AZ synchronous replication ensures zero data loss (RPO of seconds) and automatic failover within minutes, while the warm standby environment can be scaled up quickly to handle production traffic, satisfying the RTO.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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