The answer is Multi-AZ with automatic failover and a cross-Region read replica promoted during disaster. Multi-AZ provides synchronous replication to a standby in a different Availability Zone, achieving an RPO of seconds and an RTO typically under a minute, while a cross-Region read replica uses asynchronous replication to a secondary Region, offering an RPO of seconds and an RTO of minutes for promotion, both comfortably within the 15-minute RTO and 1-hour RPO requirements. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between high-availability and disaster recovery mechanisms—a common trap is confusing Multi-AZ (HA, same Region) with cross-Region read replicas (DR, different Region). Remember: Multi-AZ for automatic failover within a Region, cross-Region read replica for manual promotion across Regions. Memory tip: “Multi-AZ for HA, cross-Region for DR—seconds for RPO, minutes for RTO.”
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 designing a disaster recovery strategy for a production database running on Amazon RDS for MySQL. The RTO is 15 minutes and RPO is 1 hour. Which TWO solutions meet these requirements? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy Multi-AZ RDS instance and enable automatic failover
Multi-AZ with automatic failover provides RTO of minutes and RPO of seconds, meeting requirements. Cross-Region read replica with promotion provides RPO of seconds and RTO of minutes (promotion time). Option C (manual snapshot) has RPO > 1 hour and RTO > 15 minutes. Option D (export to S3) has high RTO. Option E (single instance backup) has high RTO.
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.
✗
Export the database to Amazon S3 using AWS DMS and import in another Region
Why it's wrong here
High RTO; takes longer than 15 minutes.
✓
Deploy Multi-AZ RDS instance and enable automatic failover
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use automated backups with point-in-time recovery in the same Region
Why it's wrong here
PITR restores take longer than 15 minutes and do not protect against regional failure.
✗
Take manual snapshots every hour and restore in another Region
Why it's wrong here
RPO could be up to 1 hour, but restore time exceeds 15 minutes.
✓
Create a cross-Region read replica and promote it during disaster
Why this is correct
Asynchronous replication with RPO < 1 hour and promotion within minutes.
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
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 Multi-AZ RDS instance and enable automatic failover — Multi-AZ with automatic failover provides RTO of minutes and RPO of seconds, meeting requirements. Cross-Region read replica with promotion provides RPO of seconds and RTO of minutes (promotion time). Option C (manual snapshot) has RPO > 1 hour and RTO > 15 minutes. Option D (export to S3) has high RTO. Option E (single instance backup) has high RTO.
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.
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Question Discussion
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