SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a new global application that requires a relational database with low-latency reads in multiple AWS Regions. The database must support automatic failover to a secondary Region in case of a disaster. The company wants to minimize operational overhead and ensure data consistency across Regions. Which solution should a solutions architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a cross-Region read replica provides automatic failover, when in fact it requires manual promotion and may lose data.
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 Amazon Aurora Global Database with a primary Region and secondary Regions, enabling managed planned failover.
Amazon Aurora Global Database provides a relational database with low-latency reads in multiple Regions and supports managed planned failover. It replicates data with minimal lag, ensuring consistency, and the failover process is automated, reducing operational overhead. This meets the requirements for a global application with automatic disaster recovery.
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 RDS for PostgreSQL with Multi-AZ deployment and a cross-Region replica for disaster recovery.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability within a single Region, not across Regions. A cross-Region replica can be used for disaster recovery, but failover is manual and replication is asynchronous, risking data loss. This solution does not provide low-latency reads in multiple Regions or automatic failover, and it requires significant operational effort.
- ✗
Use Amazon RDS for MySQL with a cross-Region read replica and promote the replica during a failover.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon RDS cross-Region read replicas can provide low-latency reads in other Regions, but failover is manual and can take time. The replication is asynchronous, so there is a risk of data loss during promotion. This approach requires operational effort to monitor and promote the replica, and does not provide automatic failover or guaranteed consistency.
- ✓
Use Amazon Aurora Global Database with a primary Region and secondary Regions, enabling managed planned failover.
Why this is correct
Amazon Aurora Global Database is designed for global applications, providing low-latency reads in secondary Regions with typical replication lag under one second. It supports managed planned failover, which promotes a secondary Region to primary with minimal data loss and automatic DNS updates. This minimizes operational overhead and ensures data consistency across Regions.
- ✗
Use Amazon DynamoDB global tables with automatic multi-Region replication.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, but the requirement specifies a relational database. DynamoDB global tables provide multi-Region replication with low latency, but they do not support relational features such as joins, foreign keys, or SQL. Therefore, it does not meet the relational database requirement.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.