SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy application to AWS. The application requires a relational database with high availability and automated backups. Which TWO AWS services should the company consider? (Choose two.)
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
✓
Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ deployment
Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ deployment (B) is correct because it provides a relational database engine with a synchronous standby replica in a different Availability Zone for automatic failover and high availability, plus automated backups with point-in-time recovery. Amazon Aurora (E) is also correct because it is a MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database that stores data across multiple Availability Zones, supports automated backups and point-in-time recovery, and offers high availability through replicas and failover. Amazon Redshift (A) is a data warehousing service optimized for analytics, not a general-purpose relational database for a legacy application. Amazon ElastiCache (C) is an in-memory caching service (Redis or Memcached), not a relational database. Amazon DynamoDB (D) is a NoSQL key-value and document database, so it does not meet the requirement for a relational database.
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 Redshift
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Redshift is a columnar data warehouse for analytical queries over large datasets, not a transactional relational database for a legacy application. It lacks the row-oriented OLTP engine and automated backup model the workload requires. It would be the right choice for consolidating reporting and business intelligence workloads needing massively parallel analytical processing.
- ✓
Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ deployment
Why this is correct
Amazon RDS with Multi-AZ deployment provisions a synchronous standby replica in a second Availability Zone, with automatic failover, satisfying the high availability requirement. RDS also handles automated backups and point-in-time recovery natively, meeting the backup constraint without custom scripting or additional services.
- ✗
Amazon ElastiCache
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache is an in-memory cache (Redis or Memcached), not a relational engine, so it cannot satisfy the requirement for a relational database with automated backups. It is tempting because it provides high availability and is often paired with RDS to offload read traffic, but it always sits alongside a database rather than replacing one.
- ✗
Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is a NoSQL key-value store, so it cannot satisfy the stem's requirement for a relational database with SQL schemas and joins. It is tempting because it offers high availability, automated backups via point-in-time recovery, and managed scaling, making it the right choice when the workload is key-value or document access at scale.
- ✓
Amazon Aurora
Why this is correct
Amazon Aurora satisfies the relational requirement while providing multi-AZ high availability through six-way replicated storage across three Availability Zones, plus continuous automated backups to Amazon S3 with point-in-time recovery. This meets the stem's demand for a managed relational database combining resilience with automated backup, without the operational overhead of self-managed engines.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.