The answer is the failover routing policy. This is the correct choice because it is specifically designed for active-passive multi-region architectures, where Route 53 directs all traffic to a primary resource (the active region) and automatically reroutes to a secondary resource (the passive region) only when health checks on the primary fail. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of how to implement DNS-based disaster recovery, often appearing in scenarios involving multi-tier applications behind ALBs. A common trap is confusing failover with weighted or latency policies—weighted distributes traffic arbitrarily, while latency routes to the lowest-latency endpoint, neither of which enforce a strict primary-secondary failover. Remember the memory tip: “Failover is for fallover”—if the primary falls over, traffic goes to the secondary.
ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 multi-tier web application across two AWS Regions with an active-passive failover architecture. The application uses Application Load Balancers (ALBs) in each Region, and traffic must be directed to the active Region using DNS. Which routing policy should be used for the Amazon Route 53 record set to achieve this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Failover routing policy
Option B is correct because a failover routing policy is used for active-passive configurations where one resource is primary and the other is secondary, allowing Route 53 to direct traffic to the active region and fail over to the passive region if the primary becomes unhealthy. Option A (weighted) distributes traffic across multiple resources. Option C (latency) routes based on lowest latency. Option D (geolocation) routes based on user location.
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.
✗
Geolocation routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Geolocation routes based on user location, not for failover.
✓
Failover routing policy
Why this is correct
Failover routing policy is designed for active-passive failover configurations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Weighted routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Weighted routing distributes traffic based on weights, not for active-passive failover.
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Latency routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Latency routing does not provide failover based on health checks; it routes based on latency.
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 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.
Identify which ANS-C01 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.
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Failover routing policy — Option B is correct because a failover routing policy is used for active-passive configurations where one resource is primary and the other is secondary, allowing Route 53 to direct traffic to the active region and fail over to the passive region if the primary becomes unhealthy. Option A (weighted) distributes traffic across multiple resources. Option C (latency) routes based on lowest latency. Option D (geolocation) routes based on user location.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which ANS-C01 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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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