This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. 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 is designing a network for a three-tier web application. The web tier must be able to scale out and in automatically based on CPU utilization. The database tier must be highly available and use Multi-AZ deployment. Which combination of AWS services should the architect use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Application Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ
Option C is correct because an Application Load Balancer (ALB) operates at Layer 7, which is ideal for distributing HTTP/HTTPS traffic to a web tier that scales out and in automatically via an Auto Scaling group based on CPU utilization. Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides synchronous standby replication across Availability Zones, ensuring high availability for the database tier by automatically failing over to the standby in case of an outage.
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.
✗
Network Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ
Why it's wrong here
NLB is for TCP/UDP, not HTTP/HTTPS unless using TCP pass-through.
✗
Application Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not suitable for all relational workloads.
✓
Application Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ
Why this is correct
ALB handles HTTP/HTTPS traffic, Auto Scaling adjusts capacity, and RDS Multi-AZ provides HA.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Classic Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon RDS Single-AZ
Why it's wrong here
Classic Load Balancer is legacy; Single-AZ does not provide high availability.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the misconception that a Network Load Balancer is suitable for all web applications, but the trap here is that the web tier requires Layer 7 features (like HTTP header inspection) for proper scaling and routing, which only the Application Load Balancer provides.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the ALB uses target groups to route traffic to EC2 instances registered with the Auto Scaling group, and the Auto Scaling group triggers scale-out events based on CloudWatch alarms monitoring CPU utilization. Amazon RDS Multi-AZ uses synchronous replication to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone, with automatic failover typically completing within 60-120 seconds, and the DNS endpoint remains unchanged, ensuring minimal disruption. In a real-world scenario, if the web tier experiences a traffic spike, the ALB distributes requests evenly while the Auto Scaling group launches new instances, and the RDS Multi-AZ setup ensures the database remains available even if the primary AZ fails.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: Application Load Balancer, Auto Scaling group, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ — Option C is correct because an Application Load Balancer (ALB) operates at Layer 7, which is ideal for distributing HTTP/HTTPS traffic to a web tier that scales out and in automatically via an Auto Scaling group based on CPU utilization. Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides synchronous standby replication across Availability Zones, ensuring high availability for the database tier by automatically failing over to the standby in case of an outage.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 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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Question Discussion
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