Quick Answer
The answer is the latency-based routing policy. This is correct because it directs traffic to the AWS Region that offers the lowest network latency for each end user, automatically distributing requests across multiple Application Load Balancers in different regions to improve both availability and performance. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of how Route53 routing policies handle multi-region failover and performance optimization; a common trap is confusing latency-based routing with geolocation routing, which routes based on the user’s physical location rather than actual network performance. Remember that latency-based routing adapts dynamically to real-time network conditions, making it ideal for multi-region ALB architectures where you want the fastest response regardless of where the user is located. Memory tip: think “lowest latency wins” to distinguish it from location-based policies.
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of resilient cloud solutions. 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 Amazon Route 53 to route traffic to an Application Load Balancer. They want to improve availability by routing traffic to multiple ALBs in different AWS Regions. Which routing policy should they use?
Latency-based routing policy
Routes to lowest latency region, and supports health checks.
Weighted routing policy
Why wrong: Does not automatically failover based on health.
Geolocation routing policy
Why wrong: Routes based on location, not availability.
Simple routing policy
Why wrong: Only one record; no failover.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Latency-based routing policy
Latency-based routing policy is correct because it directs traffic to the AWS Region that provides the lowest latency for the end user, improving availability and performance by distributing requests across multiple Application Load Balancers in different regions. This policy uses latency measurements between the user and each region to select the optimal endpoint, ensuring that if one region becomes unavailable, traffic is automatically routed to the next lowest-latency region.
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.
Latency-based routing policy
Why this is correct
Routes to lowest latency region, and supports health checks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Weighted routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Does not automatically failover based on health.
Geolocation routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Routes based on location, not availability.
Simple routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Only one record; no failover.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse latency-based routing with geolocation routing, mistakenly thinking that geographic proximity equals low latency, but latency-based routing uses actual network measurements rather than fixed geographic boundaries.
Detailed technical explanation
Latency-based routing works by Route 53 maintaining a latency table based on measurements between AWS edge locations and each region; when a DNS query arrives, Route 53 selects the region with the lowest latency for that user's approximate location. Under the hood, this policy does not perform health checks by default, so it should be combined with Route 53 health checks on the ALB endpoints to avoid routing traffic to an unhealthy region. A real-world scenario is a global SaaS application where users in Europe should be routed to eu-west-1 and users in Asia to ap-southeast-1, but if eu-west-1 fails, latency-based routing automatically shifts European traffic to the next best region, such as eu-central-1.
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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FAQ
Resilient Cloud Solutions — This question tests Resilient Cloud Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Latency-based routing policy — Latency-based routing policy is correct because it directs traffic to the AWS Region that provides the lowest latency for the end user, improving availability and performance by distributing requests across multiple Application Load Balancers in different regions. This policy uses latency measurements between the user and each region to select the optimal endpoint, ensuring that if one region becomes unavailable, traffic is automatically routed to the next lowest-latency region.
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 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.
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