SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a critical application to AWS using a rehost (lift-and-shift) approach. The application consists of a web tier and a database tier. The company wants to ensure high availability and disaster recovery. Which TWO actions should the company take? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
SAP-C02 often tests the confusion between Multi-AZ (synchronous HA, automatic failover) and read replicas (asynchronous, read scaling/DR) — candidates pick read replicas for HA when Multi-AZ is the correct answer.
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
✓
Deploy the web tier across multiple Availability Zones.
Option B is correct because deploying the web tier across multiple Availability Zones ensures that if one AZ fails, the application remains available through instances in another AZ, which is a fundamental high-availability design for a rehosted web tier on EC2. Option C is correct because Amazon RDS Multi-AZ maintains a synchronous standby replica in a different AZ and automatically fails over the database endpoint during an AZ outage or primary failure, providing high availability for the database tier. Option A is not appropriate because EC2 Auto Scaling operates within a single Region across AZs; it cannot launch instances across multiple AWS Regions, and cross-Region scaling is not a standard Auto Scaling capability. Option D is not the best fit because read replicas are primarily for scaling read-heavy workloads and are asynchronous, so they do not provide automatic failover for high availability. Option E is incorrect because confining the database to a single AZ creates a single point of failure and undermines the disaster recovery and high availability goals.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to launch instances across multiple AWS Regions.
Why it's wrong here
Auto Scaling spans Availability Zones within one Region, not multiple Regions; cross-Region failover needs Route 53 health checks or a standby Region. It is tempting because Auto Scaling genuinely delivers high availability, but only against single-AZ failure, not a full-Region outage.
- ✓
Deploy the web tier across multiple Availability Zones.
Why this is correct
Spreading the web tier across multiple Availability Zones places instances behind an Application Load Balancer, so an AZ failure does not take the application offline. This satisfies the high availability and disaster recovery requirement without altering the rehosted application's architecture or code.
- ✓
Use Amazon RDS Multi-AZ for the database tier.
Why this is correct
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ maintains a synchronous standby replica in a second Availability Zone and performs automatic failover, satisfying the database tier's high availability and disaster recovery requirement. The rehosted application connects to a single endpoint, so no code changes are needed during migration.
- ✗
Use Amazon RDS read replicas to offload read traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas scale read throughput and can be promoted during failover, but they do not by themselves satisfy the high-availability and disaster-recovery actions the stem asks for. They are tempting because they improve database resilience, and they would be correct for offloading read-heavy workloads, yet the required actions are multi-AZ deployment and cross-region backup or replication.
- ✗
Use a single Availability Zone for the database to reduce latency.
Why it's wrong here
A single Availability Zone concentrates the database in one fault domain, so an AZ outage takes the database down and no cross-region recovery exists. It is tempting because a single AZ can reduce inter-AZ latency, and it would be correct for latency-sensitive, non-critical workloads, but the stem demands high availability and disaster recovery.
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JA
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.