PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
An SAP system on AWS uses a Multi-AZ DB instance for its database. The operations team notices that during a recent Availability Zone outage, the database failover did not occur automatically. What is the MOST likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume Multi-AZ automatically implies different AZs, but the question tests whether you know that a misconfiguration (both instances in the same AZ) will break failover, and they might incorrectly blame replication mode or engine support instead.
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
✓
The secondary DB instance is in the same Availability Zone as the primary.
In a Multi-AZ DB instance deployment, AWS automatically provisions and maintains a standby DB instance in a different Availability Zone (AZ). If the primary DB instance fails or the AZ becomes unavailable, Amazon RDS automatically fails over to the standby. If the secondary DB instance is in the same AZ as the primary, a failure of that AZ will affect both instances, preventing automatic failover. This is the most likely cause because the Multi-AZ architecture relies on physical separation of AZs to provide high availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The database is configured with asynchronous replication.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ uses synchronous replication.
- ✗
The Multi-AZ option is not supported for this database engine.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ is supported for common engines.
- ✗
The database is configured as a read replica.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas do not provide automatic failover.
- ✓
The secondary DB instance is in the same Availability Zone as the primary.
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ requires instances in different AZs.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 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 PAS-C01 exam.