The correct answer is to deploy Amazon RDS in a Multi-AZ configuration and use read replicas to offload read traffic. This combination directly addresses the need for a read-heavy relational database with high availability: Multi-AZ synchronously replicates data to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone, ensuring automatic failover during an outage, while read replicas handle sudden spikes in read traffic by distributing queries across multiple, asynchronously updated copies. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between availability and scalability—a common trap is choosing Multi-AZ alone, which provides high availability but does nothing for read performance under load. Remember the memory tip: “Multi-AZ for the fail, read replicas for the trail”—one keeps you up, the other keeps you fast.
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is deploying a web application on AWS that requires a relational database. The application is read-heavy and expects sudden spikes in traffic. The database must be highly available and perform well under load. Which database configuration meets these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy Amazon RDS in a Multi-AZ configuration and use read replicas to offload read traffic.
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability, and read replicas offload read traffic. Option A (Single-AZ) is not highly available. Option C (Multi-AZ without replicas) does not help with read performance. Option D (Memcached) is not a relational database.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use Amazon ElastiCache for Memcached as the primary database.
Why it's wrong here
Memcached is a cache, not a relational database.
✗
Deploy Amazon RDS in a Multi-AZ configuration without read replicas.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ alone does not address read spikes.
✗
Deploy Amazon RDS in a single Availability Zone with a large instance size.
Why it's wrong here
Single-AZ is not highly available.
✓
Deploy Amazon RDS in a Multi-AZ configuration and use read replicas to offload read traffic.
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ provides failover, and read replicas improve read performance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
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.
Detailed technical explanation
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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy Amazon RDS in a Multi-AZ configuration and use read replicas to offload read traffic. — Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability, and read replicas offload read traffic. Option A (Single-AZ) is not highly available. Option C (Multi-AZ without replicas) does not help with read performance. Option D (Memcached) is not a relational database.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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. A company is deploying a web application on AWS. The application requires a relational database with read replicas for scaling read queries. The database must support automatic failover and be Multi-AZ. Which database solution meets these requirements?
medium
A.Amazon DynamoDB with global tables
✓ B.Amazon Aurora with Multi-AZ and Aurora Replicas
C.Amazon ElastiCache for Redis with replication groups
✓ D.Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ and Read Replicas
Why B: Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ and Read Replicas provides both high availability (Multi-AZ failover) and read scaling (Read Replicas). Option A (Aurora) is also relational but is a different service. Option C (DynamoDB) is NoSQL. Option D (ElastiCache) is in-memory cache.
Variation 2. A company is designing a new application that requires a relational database. The application has variable traffic, with high spikes during business hours and low traffic at night. The company wants to minimize costs while ensuring the database can handle the spikes. Which solution should the architect recommend?
medium
✓ A.Use Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ and read replicas, or Amazon Aurora Serverless
B.Use Amazon RDS with a Single-AZ instance and automatic scaling
C.Use Amazon DynamoDB with on-demand capacity
D.Use Amazon RDS with a Single-AZ instance and a large instance size
Why A: Option B is correct because RDS with Multi-AZ and read replicas provides high availability and read scaling, while Aurora Serverless automatically scales compute capacity. Option A is wrong because a single RDS instance is not highly available. Option C is wrong because DynamoDB is NoSQL, not relational. Option D is wrong because RDS with a Single-AZ instance is not highly available and does not handle spikes.
Variation 3. A company is designing a new application that requires a relational database. The application has variable workloads with predictable spikes. The company wants to minimize costs while ensuring that the database can handle the spikes. Which Amazon RDS feature should the company use?
medium
✓ A.RDS Storage Auto Scaling
B.Read Replicas
C.RDS Proxy
D.Multi-AZ deployment
Why A: Option C is correct because RDS Auto Scaling automatically adjusts storage or compute capacity based on demand. Option A is for disaster recovery. Option B provides high availability but does not handle variable workloads. Option D is for global scaling.
Variation 4. A company is designing a new application that will be deployed on AWS. The application requires a relational database with automatic failover and high availability within a single AWS region. Which database deployment option meets these requirements?
easy
A.Amazon RDS Single-AZ deployment
B.Amazon RDS with Read Replicas
✓ C.Amazon RDS Multi-AZ deployment
D.Amazon RDS cross-region replication
Why C: Option C is correct because RDS Multi-AZ provides automatic failover and high availability within a region. Option A is wrong because Single-AZ does not provide failover. Option B is wrong because Read Replicas are for read scaling, not failover. Option D is wrong because cross-region replication is for disaster recovery, not primary failover.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
Question Discussion
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This SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 exam.
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