SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a disaster recovery strategy for a critical application running on Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The primary database is in us-east-1. The company needs a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 1 minute. Which TWO solutions meet these requirements? (Choose TWO.)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.
AWS DMS with ongoing replication (change data capture) can achieve sub-5-second RPO by continuously replicating changes to a target database in another Region. The RTO can be under 1 minute if the target is pre-provisioned and promotion is automated. Option C: A cross-Region read replica uses asynchronous replication, but when configured for maximum throughput, the typical lag is under 5 seconds, and promoting the replica takes less than a minute, meeting the RPO and RTO requirements. Options B is incorrect because Multi-AZ deployments are limited to a single Region and do not support cross-Region synchronous replication. Option D: Daily snapshots have an RPO of up to 24 hours. Option E: Automated backups have an RPO of up to 5 minutes and an RTO longer than 1 minute. Therefore, only A and C satisfy the required RPO and RTO.
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 AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.
Why this is correct
Correct. DMS continuous replication can achieve sub-5-second RPO and sub-1-minute RTO when configured with a pre-provisioned target and automated promotion.
- ✗
Configure a Multi-AZ deployment with a standby in a different AWS Region.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Multi-AZ deployments are within a single Region and do not provide cross-Region synchronous replication. This option does not meet the disaster recovery requirements.
- ✓
Create a cross-Region read replica and promote it during a disaster.
Why this is correct
Correct. A cross-Region read replica, when configured for maximum throughput, typically has lag under 5 seconds, and promoting the replica takes less than a minute.
- ✗
Take daily snapshots and copy them to another Region.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Daily snapshots have an RPO of up to 24 hours, far exceeding the 5-second requirement.
- ✗
Enable automated backups with a retention period of 35 days.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Automated backups have an RPO of up to 5 minutes and an RTO longer than 1 minute, not meeting the requirements.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SAP-C02
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 designing a disaster recovery strategy for a multi-tier application hosted on AWS. The application uses Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment. The Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is 15 minutes and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 1 hour. Which solution meets these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
hard- ✓ A.Configure a Cross-Region Read Replica of the RDS instance and promote it during disaster.
- B.Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to continuously replicate data to a standby RDS instance in another region.
- C.Take automated snapshots every hour and copy them to another region. Restore from snapshot during disaster.
- D.Use RDS Multi-AZ in a different region.
Why A: Configuring a Cross-Region Read Replica for RDS MySQL provides continuous replication with an RPO of seconds and failover can be accomplished in minutes by promoting the replica, meeting the 15-minute RTO and 1-hour RPO with minimal operational overhead. Option B is incorrect because AWS DMS adds complexity and overhead, and while it can replicate data, it is not as tightly integrated or automated as RDS Read Replicas. Option C is incorrect because restoring from hourly snapshots cannot achieve an RPO of 1 hour (it matches at best) and restore times typically exceed 15 minutes due to volume size, resulting in higher RTO. Option D is incorrect because Multi-AZ is designed for high availability within a single region, not for disaster recovery across regions; it does not provide cross-region failover capability.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.