A SaaS platform serves an API using two regional deployments: us-east-1 (primary) and us-west-2 (secondary). Each region has its own ALB. The business requires automated DNS-based failover when the primary region becomes unhealthy, and they do not want manual DNS changes during incidents.
Which Route 53 configuration is the best match?
Answer choices
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Create a single Route 53 record using weighted routing across both ALBs with weights adjusted manually during an incident.
Weighted routing does not automatically detect health conditions and shift traffic based on impairment without manual intervention.
Use Route 53 failover routing with a primary record pointing to the us-east-1 ALB and a secondary record pointing to the us-west-2 ALB, each using health checks.
Failover routing with health checks enables automatic switching of DNS responses when the primary endpoint fails health evaluation.
Use latency-based routing so Route 53 always selects the fastest region; health checks are unnecessary because client latency reflects availability.
Latency-based routing selects based on performance, not health, and does not guarantee failover when the primary region is unhealthy.
Use a single A record with a static IP address that points to a NAT gateway, and update that IP during failure events.
Static IPs and NAT gateways are not an appropriate mechanism for regional ALB failover, and updating during incidents is manual.
Common exam trap
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Related practice questions
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Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
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FAQ
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
The correct answer is: Use Route 53 failover routing with a primary record pointing to the us-east-1 ALB and a secondary record pointing to the us-west-2 ALB, each using health checks. — Route 53 failover routing is specifically designed for automated DNS-based high availability. By defining two records (primary and secondary) and associating health checks to determine endpoint health, Route 53 can return the appropriate ALB endpoint automatically when the primary fails health evaluation. This satisfies the requirement to avoid manual DNS changes during a Region-wide disaster. Weighted or latency-based routing does not inherently guarantee failure-driven traffic shifting, and static IP/NAT approaches do not map to ALB regional failover patterns. Why others are wrong: Weighted routing distributes traffic based on configured percentages and requires manual changes to respond to incidents, violating the automation requirement. Latency-based routing may still direct users to an unhealthy region if DNS latency signals persist. Using static IP/NAT is the wrong abstraction for ALB endpoint selection and still requires operational changes during failures.
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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