The answer is to enable cross-region replication on the Amazon S3 buckets containing application data, use AWS CloudFormation to provision the secondary region environment, and configure Amazon EBS snapshots for EC2 instances with cross-region copy. This combination works because S3 cross-region replication provides near-instantaneous object-level replication to meet the 15-minute RPO, while CloudFormation templates enable infrastructure-as-code to automate the full environment deployment in the DR region, directly supporting the 1-hour RTO by eliminating manual provisioning. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to decouple storage from compute for DR—a common trap is focusing only on EC2 instance replication (like AMI copying) while ignoring the S3 data layer that actually holds the application state. Remember the memory tip: “S3 for data, CF for stack, snapshots for the rest”—the three pillars of cross-Region DR.
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 disaster recovery solution for a critical application running on Amazon EC2. They need to replicate data across AWS Regions with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour. Which THREE actions should they take to meet these objectives?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a CloudFormation template to provision the infrastructure in the secondary region
Option B is correct because AWS CloudFormation templates enable infrastructure-as-code, allowing rapid and consistent provisioning of the secondary region environment. This automation is essential to meet the 1-hour RTO, as it eliminates manual setup and reduces recovery time to minutes by deploying pre-defined stacks.
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.
✗
Manually create and copy AMIs to the secondary region weekly
Why it's wrong here
Manual weekly copies do not meet the 15-minute RPO.
✓
Create a CloudFormation template to provision the infrastructure in the secondary region
Why this is correct
CloudFormation allows rapid deployment of infrastructure in the DR region.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use AWS Backup to automate cross-region EBS snapshot copies
Why this is correct
AWS Backup can automate EBS snapshot copies across regions with frequent schedules.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Enable cross-region replication on the Amazon S3 buckets containing application data
Why this is correct
S3 cross-region replication replicates data with low RPO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure the EC2 instances in a Multi-AZ Auto Scaling group
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ is within a region, not cross-region DR.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Multi-AZ (which provides high availability within a single Region) with cross-region disaster recovery, leading them to incorrectly select Option E despite it not addressing regional isolation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Backup automates cross-region EBS snapshot copies by using backup plans with lifecycle policies, enabling snapshot replication to a secondary Region within minutes. Amazon S3 cross-region replication (CRR) asynchronously replicates objects to a destination bucket in another Region, typically completing within 15 minutes for most objects, which directly supports the RPO. CloudFormation templates can include stack sets to deploy identical resources across Regions, and when combined with parameterized mappings, they allow rapid failover without manual intervention.
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: Create a CloudFormation template to provision the infrastructure in the secondary region — Option B is correct because AWS CloudFormation templates enable infrastructure-as-code, allowing rapid and consistent provisioning of the secondary region environment. This automation is essential to meet the 1-hour RTO, as it eliminates manual setup and reduces recovery time to minutes by deploying pre-defined stacks.
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 →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.