A public API is deployed in two AWS Regions: us-east-1 (primary) and us-west-2 (secondary). The team wants Route 53 to automatically route users to the secondary region if the primary API becomes unhealthy. They will use Route 53 health checks that monitor the API’s /status endpoint over HTTPS. Which Route 53 configuration most directly implements this failover behavior?

Create two latency-based alias records for the same name, each with different health checks; Route 53 will automatically shift to the secondary when primary is unhealthy.

Latency-based routing chooses records based on measured latency. While health checks can exclude unhealthy targets, this is not the explicit primary/secondary failover model and does not implement deterministic active-passive failover semantics.

Use geolocation routing with a health check; when the primary is unhealthy, Route 53 will automatically change the region mapping globally.

Geolocation routing directs traffic based on where the user is located. Health checks do not create a “global primary-to-secondary region switch” mapping for a single global name; this is not the intended use of geolocation routing.

Use simple routing with weighted records and a low health check threshold so traffic quickly moves to the secondary region.

Weighted routing distributes traffic by configured weights and is not a failover routing policy. Also, health check thresholds do not replace the need for a primary/secondary failover model that deterministically routes all traffic to the secondary when the primary is unhealthy.

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create a primary alias record and a failover alias record (secondary), configure failover routing policy, and attach health checks to both records. — Route 53 failover routing directly supports the active-passive behavior described. You create two alias records for the same DNS name: one configured as the primary and one as the secondary, using failover routing policy. You associate health checks with both records. When the health check for the primary indicates the /status endpoint is unhealthy, Route 53 switches resolution so the same DNS name returns the secondary region’s alias target; when the primary recovers, resolution can switch back based on the failover configuration and health check results. Latency and geolocation routing base record selection on latency or viewer location rather than implementing deterministic primary-to-secondary failover semantics. Weighted routing distributes traffic by percentage and is not a true primary/secondary failover mechanism. Only failover routing provides the required explicit operational model: primary health failure triggers switching to secondary for the same name.

What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.