Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
You host a public API using Amazon API Gateway in two AWS Regions: us-east-1 (primary) and us-west-2 (secondary). You want Route 53 to send client traffic to the secondary region only when the primary API is unhealthy. Which Route 53 setup best meets this requirement?
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 one routing policy per region, and use CloudWatch alarms to update traffic weights between regions.
Latency-based routing distributes traffic based on DNS latency measurements, not health. Weight changes driven by alarms require additional automation and are not inherently “health-check driven” failover.
B
Best answer
Use Route 53 failover routing with two ALIAS records (same DNS name) pointing to the API Gateway regional endpoints: one record is configured as PRIMARY with an associated health check, and the other is configured as SECONDARY.
Failover routing is designed for active-passive regional resiliency. With a PRIMARY record tied to a health check, Route 53 automatically returns DNS answers to the SECONDARY endpoint when the PRIMARY fails health checks.
C
Distractor review
Use weighted routing across both regions and rely on Route 53 health checks to automatically set the secondary to 100% weight when the primary fails.
Weighted routing does not inherently change weights based on health checks by itself. Changing weights based on health typically requires additional automation (for example, updating the record values).
D
Distractor review
Use geolocation routing to map some client geographies to the secondary region and the rest to the primary region.
Geolocation routing chooses answers based on where the resolver/client is located, not on whether the primary endpoint is healthy.
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.
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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 Route 53 failover routing with two ALIAS records (same DNS name) pointing to the API Gateway regional endpoints: one record is configured as PRIMARY with an associated health check, and the other is configured as SECONDARY. — Use Route 53 failover routing for health-check-driven regional switching. Create two DNS records with the same name: one configured as the PRIMARY record and one as the SECONDARY record. Attach a health check to the PRIMARY record. When the health check fails, Route 53 automatically changes DNS responses so clients resolve to the secondary region’s API endpoint (typically using ALIAS to the regional API Gateway endpoint). Latency-based and weighted routing select destinations based on performance or configured weights, not purely on health-check status. Geolocation routing is based on geographic source location and does not detect endpoint failures. Weighted routing also does not automatically modify weights purely from health checks without extra automation.
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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