Match the disaster recovery strategy to the recovery posture it best fits for a Regional outage.
Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.
Lowest cost option where the environment is rebuilt from backups and hours of downtime are acceptable.
Keep only the critical core running in the secondary Region, then scale out after failover.
Run a scaled-down but functional environment in another Region for faster cutover.
Serve production traffic from more than one Region at the same time for the fastest recovery.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Backup & Restore: RPO hours, RTO 24+ hours
These pairs match disaster recovery strategies to their recovery postures, aligning with AWS DR strategies where RTO and RPO define the recovery objectives.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Backup & Restore: RPO hours, RTO 24+ hours
Why this is correct
This strategy relies on periodic backups of data and infrastructure configurations. The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is typically measured in hours, reflecting the data loss since the last successful backup. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the longest among DR strategies, often exceeding 24 hours, as it involves restoring data, provisioning new infrastructure, and reconfiguring applications from scratch.
Pilot Light: RPO minutes, RTO hours
Why this is correct
The Pilot Light strategy maintains a minimal, core set of infrastructure components, such as databases, running in a standby region. This allows for a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) in minutes, as critical data can be replicated or frequently synchronized. However, the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is still measured in hours because the full application environment needs to be provisioned and scaled up before traffic can be redirected.
Warm Standby: RPO seconds, RTO minutes
Why this is correct
Warm Standby involves maintaining a scaled-down, but fully functional, replica of the production environment in a secondary region. This enables a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) in seconds due to continuous data replication. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is significantly reduced to minutes, as it primarily involves scaling up the existing standby resources and redirecting traffic, rather than provisioning new infrastructure.
Multi-Site Active/Active: RPO near zero, RTO near zero
Why this is correct
This highly resilient strategy operates a full production environment concurrently across multiple geographic regions, with traffic distributed between them. Data is synchronously replicated, achieving a near-zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO) with virtually no data loss. Automated failover mechanisms ensure a near-zero Recovery Time Objective (RTO), as user traffic is instantly routed away from any failing region to the healthy active site.
Backup & Restore: RPO seconds, RTO minutes
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect because the Backup & Restore strategy fundamentally relies on periodic data backups, which inherently leads to an RPO measured in hours, not seconds. Furthermore, the extensive process of provisioning new infrastructure and restoring data from backups means the RTO is typically 24 hours or more, making a recovery time of minutes unachievable for this method.
Multi-Site Active/Active: RPO hours, RTO 24+ hours
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect as the Multi-Site Active/Active strategy is designed for maximum availability and minimal disruption. It employs synchronous data replication and active traffic distribution across multiple regions, which inherently results in a near-zero RPO and RTO. An RPO of hours and an RTO of 24+ hours are characteristic of the least resilient Backup & Restore strategy, not an active/active setup.
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Same concept, more angles
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Match the disaster recovery strategy to the recovery posture it best fits for a Regional outage.
mediumWhy A: The pairs match disaster recovery strategies to their typical recovery posture for a regional outage, based on AWS Well-Architected Framework and common DR patterns.
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAA-C03 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAA-C03 exam.