Question 1hardmultiple choice
Full question →hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Exhibit
Current topology: app -> Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL primary db-a in us-east-1a app -> Amazon RDS read replica db-b in us-east-1b Incident report: 10:14 UTC - Primary AZ impaired 10:15 UTC - Application returns database connection errors 10:18 UTC - DBA manually promotes db-b 10:22 UTC - Application reconnects Observed replication lag before failure: 40 seconds Target: - Automatic failover within 2 minutes - No manual promotion during an AZ outage
Based on the exhibit, the database is manually promoted during an Availability Zone failure and the application outage lasts longer than the target. What change best improves resilience with the least operational intervention?
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 the read replica and automate promotion with a runbook after CloudWatch alarms fire.
Automation helps, but the underlying architecture still relies on manual-style promotion of an asynchronous replica rather than built-in high availability.
B
Best answer
Convert the database to an RDS Multi-AZ deployment so a synchronous standby can fail over automatically.
Multi-AZ is designed for automatic failover within the same Region and maintains a synchronous standby for high availability. The exhibit shows that the current read replica requires manual promotion and produces an outage longer than the target. Switching to Multi-AZ removes the manual step and aligns the database layer with the desired recovery time.
C
Distractor review
Use a cross-Region read replica so promotion happens faster during an AZ failure.
Cross-Region replication adds distance and is intended for disaster recovery, not fast automatic failover within one Region.
D
Distractor review
Increase the application retry count and keep the current database design.
Retries can hide brief transient failures, but they do not fix the manual promotion delay or the architecture’s failover characteristics.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
- Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
- Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
- The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
- Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
- Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
- Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Convert the database to an RDS Multi-AZ deployment so a synchronous standby can fail over automatically. — The current design uses a read replica, which is excellent for read scaling and disaster recovery but still requires promotion to become writable. That adds operational delay and depends on human intervention or external automation. A Multi-AZ deployment provides synchronous replication and automatic failover inside the Region, which is exactly what the exhibit’s target requires. It is the AWS-native solution for reducing failover time with minimal operational effort. Why others are wrong: A runbook can speed up promotion, but the architecture still depends on an asynchronous replica and extra operational steps. Cross-Region replicas are slower and are not meant for sub-two-minute AZ failover. Application retries may mask a short hiccup, but they do not eliminate the manual promotion process or guarantee the recovery target.
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.
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