Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
Exhibit
DNS design notes: Primary Region: us-east-1 Primary ALB: alb-prod-east-1.example.internal Secondary Region: us-west-2 Secondary ALB: alb-prod-west-2.example.internal Health check results: /health on us-east-1 returns HTTP 503 /health on us-west-2 returns HTTP 200 Requirement: Clients should use the primary endpoint during normal operations and switch automatically only on primary failure
Based on the exhibit, which Route 53 configuration should be used so traffic automatically returns to the secondary Region only when the primary Region becomes unhealthy?
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
Use latency-based routing with both ALB records enabled.
Latency-based routing chooses the Region with the lowest latency, not a designated primary/secondary pair. It does not provide the explicit health-based failover behavior required here.
B
Best answer
Use failover routing with a primary alias record, a secondary alias record, and a Route 53 health check on the primary target.
Failover routing is designed for this pattern: Route 53 returns the primary alias while the primary endpoint is healthy, and switches to the secondary alias when the primary health check fails. Alias records integrate cleanly with ALB targets, and the health check provides the signal that drives the failover decision.
C
Distractor review
Use geolocation routing so users are always sent to the closest Region.
Geolocation routing is based on client location, not the health of the primary Region. It can still direct users to an unhealthy endpoint if that Region matches the location rule.
D
Distractor review
Use a CNAME record that points to both ALBs so DNS can round-robin between Regions.
A single DNS record cannot provide health-aware active failover to two targets in that manner. Round-robin behavior also does not guarantee that traffic will move away from a failed primary only when the primary becomes unhealthy.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
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
How to think about this question
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.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Related practice questions
Related SAA-C03 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
SAA-C03 VPC practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
SAA-C03 Auto Scaling practice questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 Auto Scaling.
SAA-C03 disaster recovery questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 disaster recovery questions.
SAA-C03 high availability questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 high availability questions.
SAA-C03 cost optimization questions
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 cost optimization questions.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A team needs to distribute TCP traffic (not HTTP) across multiple services. The services must see the original client source IP for auditing. Which AWS load balancer is the best fit?
Question 2
A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?
Question 3
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a IoT ingestion API. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Question 4
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a claims portal. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
Question 5
A team wants to delegate IAM management to developers, but must ensure developers can never grant themselves permissions beyond a specific limit. Which AWS mechanism best matches this requirement?
Question 6
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a healthcare document service. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use failover routing with a primary alias record, a secondary alias record, and a Route 53 health check on the primary target. — Route 53 failover routing is the correct fit when one Region is designated primary and another is designated secondary. The health check on the primary tells Route 53 when to stop answering with the primary alias and start returning the secondary target. This gives predictable primary-first behavior during normal operations and automatic switchover during a Regional failure. Latency-based routing optimizes for proximity, not for an explicit primary-and-fallback design. Geolocation routes based on requester location, so it does not guarantee failover based on health. A CNAME cannot implement health-based two-Region failover the way Route 53 failover routing can.
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
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.