Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Exhibit
Route 53 record set Name: app.example.com Type: A (Alias) Routing policy: Simple Alias target: alb-primary-123.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com TTL: 60 seconds Health check ID: hc-44 Status: Inactive Secondary environment ALB target exists in us-west-2: alb-secondary-456.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com Operational note A Region outage should shift users to the secondary ALB without manual DNS changes.
Based on the exhibit, the company wants DNS traffic to fail over automatically from the primary Region to a secondary Region when the primary endpoint is unhealthy. Which Route 53 change is best?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Keep simple routing and lower the TTL to 10 seconds.
A lower TTL can make clients refresh cached answers sooner, but simple routing still returns only one endpoint and does not provide primary/secondary failover behavior. It does not automatically switch traffic to the standby Region when the primary becomes unhealthy.
B
Distractor review
Use weighted routing with equal weights for both ALBs.
Weighted routing is useful for traffic splitting or gradual migration, but it is not the same as health-based disaster recovery. Equal weights do not create a primary endpoint with an automatic standby that is used only on failure.
C
Distractor review
Use geolocation routing so users in each continent reach a closer ALB.
Geolocation routing makes decisions based on user location, not on endpoint health or Regional disaster recovery. It is not designed to shift all traffic away from an unhealthy primary Region.
D
Best answer
Create Route 53 failover records with health checks for the primary and secondary ALBs.
Failover routing is the Route 53 policy intended for this use case. Route 53 returns the primary record while its health check passes, and automatically serves the secondary record when the primary health check fails. That provides DNS-based Regional failover without manual intervention.
Common exam trap
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.
Technical deep dive
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
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 Route 53 failover records with health checks for the primary and secondary ALBs. — Route 53 failover routing with health checks is the best choice for primary-to-secondary disaster recovery. You create a primary alias record for the primary ALB and a secondary alias record for the standby ALB in the other Region. When the primary endpoint is unhealthy, Route 53 stops returning it and serves the secondary record instead, which satisfies the automatic failover requirement. Why others are wrong: Lowering TTL can reduce cache duration, but it is not a failover policy. Weighted routing is for distribution, not standby failover. Geolocation routes by user location rather than endpoint health, so it does not meet the disaster-recovery objective.
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.
Discussion
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