The answer is Amazon Aurora Global Database because it is the only AWS relational database service that provides cross-region read replicas with automated failover and a recovery point objective (RPO) of less than 1 second, easily meeting the requirement of under 5 seconds. This is achieved through a dedicated, fast replication channel that writes data to secondary regions with minimal lag, enabling failover in under one minute without data loss. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of disaster recovery patterns and the specific capabilities of Aurora Global Database versus services like RDS Multi-AZ or DynamoDB Global Tables, which either lack cross-region read replicas or are non-relational. A common trap is choosing RDS with cross-region read replicas, but those lack automated failover and have higher RPO due to asynchronous replication. Memory tip: think “Global Aurora, sub-second RPO, automated failover in a minute.”
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 new application on AWS that requires a relational database with read replicas across multiple AWS Regions. The database must have automated failover and a recovery point objective (RPO) of less than 5 seconds. Which database solution should the company choose?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database
Amazon Aurora Global Database is the correct choice because it is designed for cross-Region replication with a typical RPO of less than 1 second and automated failover from the primary Region to a secondary Region in under 1 minute. This meets the requirement for a relational database with read replicas across multiple Regions and an RPO of less than 5 seconds, as Aurora Global Database uses a dedicated, fast replication channel that minimizes lag.
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.
✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database
Why this is correct
Aurora Global Database provides RPO of 1 second and automated failover across Regions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ and cross-Region read replicas
Why it's wrong here
Cross-Region read replicas for RDS MySQL do not support automatic failover.
✗
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with cross-Region read replicas and Multi-AZ
Why it's wrong here
Cross-Region read replicas for RDS PostgreSQL do not support automatic failover.
✗
Amazon DynamoDB Global Tables
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is NoSQL, not relational.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Multi-AZ failover (which is Region-bound) with cross-Region failover, or they assume that RDS cross-Region read replicas can achieve the same low RPO as Aurora Global Database, but RDS cross-Region replication is asynchronous and cannot guarantee sub-5-second RPO.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Aurora Global Database uses a dedicated, highly optimized replication channel that bypasses the standard Aurora storage layer to achieve sub-second replication lag between Regions. The failover process involves promoting a secondary Region to become the new primary, which typically completes within 1 minute, and the RPO is consistently under 1 second in most configurations. This is achieved by writing to all Regions synchronously within the same Region and asynchronously across Regions using a low-latency link, with the ability to recover to the last committed transaction in the secondary Region.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: Amazon Aurora Global Database — Amazon Aurora Global Database is the correct choice because it is designed for cross-Region replication with a typical RPO of less than 1 second and automated failover from the primary Region to a secondary Region in under 1 minute. This meets the requirement for a relational database with read replicas across multiple Regions and an RPO of less than 5 seconds, as Aurora Global Database uses a dedicated, fast replication channel that minimizes lag.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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 designing a disaster recovery solution for a web application hosted on AWS. The primary site is in us-east-1 and the DR site is in us-west-2. The application uses an Amazon RDS for MySQL database. They need to recover the database with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 seconds and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour. Which solution meets these requirements?
medium
A.Use RDS Multi-AZ in us-east-1 and failover to DR site.
B.Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication to an RDS instance in us-west-2.
C.Use RDS Cross-Region Read Replica and promote it.
✓ D.Use Amazon Aurora Global Database.
Why D: Option B is correct because Aurora Global Database provides replication with RPO of 1 second and failover in minutes. Option A is incorrect because RDS Multi-AZ is for high availability within a region, not cross-region DR. Option C is incorrect because RDS Cross-Region Read Replica has RPO of seconds but failover is manual. Option D is incorrect because DMS with ongoing replication has higher RTO.
Variation 2. A financial services company is designing a multi-tier application that must achieve a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes for a database tier. The application uses Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment. Which disaster recovery strategy meets these requirements at the LOWEST cost?
hard
A.Deploy the RDS instance in Multi-AZ configuration and take frequent snapshots to another Region.
B.Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication to an RDS instance in another Region.
C.Use Amazon Aurora Global Database, which provides global replication with typical RPO of 1 second.
✓ D.Create a cross-Region read replica of the RDS MySQL instance in another Region. In a disaster, promote the read replica to a standalone instance.
Why D: Option D is correct because RDS Cross-Region Read Replicas provide asynchronous replication with RPO in seconds, and can be promoted to master in minutes, meeting RTO. Option A is wrong because Multi-AZ only protects against AZ failure, not Region failure. Option B is wrong because a manual snapshot and restore would take longer than 1 hour RTO. Option C is wrong because Aurora Global Database is more expensive than RDS read replicas.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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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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