SCS-C02 Management and Security Governance Practice Question
A company wants to centrally manage backups for Amazon RDS instances across multiple AWS accounts. Which AWS service should be used to automate the creation and enforcement of backup policies?
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
✓
AWS Backup
AWS Backup allows centralized backup policies across accounts and regions. Option A is wrong because S3 Lifecycle policies are for object lifecycle, not RDS backups. Option C is wrong because CloudTrail is for auditing API calls. Option D is wrong because Systems Manager is for operational management, not backup policies.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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S3 Lifecycle policies
Why it's wrong here
S3 Lifecycle policies automate the expiration or storage-class transition of objects inside an S3 bucket. Although RDS automated backups and manual snapshots are internally stored in S3, they are not user-accessible S3 objects and therefore cannot be managed by S3 lifecycle rules. RDS natively controls its automated backup retention window, and manual snapshots must be removed through the RDS console or DeleteDBClusterSnapshot/DeleteDBSnapshot APIs, making S3 Lifecycle policies the wrong tool.
- ✓
AWS Backup
Why this is correct
AWS Backup is the correct service because it provides a centralized, fully managed backup layer that can govern Amazon RDS databases across accounts and Regions. You define backup plans with schedules, lifecycle rules, and a retention period, then assign resources by tags or ID. It also supports cross-account backup copying and integration with AWS Organizations, enabling consistent backup compliance and centralized recovery point management for RDS workloads.
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AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudTrail records API activity for audit, governance, and security, capturing events such as RDS snapshot creation or deletion. It is a monitoring and logging service, not a backup management service, so it neither schedules backups nor enforces retention. While CloudTrail helps answer who or what performed a backup action, it cannot be used to centrally manage or automate RDS backup policies.
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AWS Systems Manager
Why it's wrong here
AWS Systems Manager is an operations automation and configuration management service for patching, parameter storage, and run command workflows. It can invoke scripts that call AWS Backup or RDS APIs, but it does not itself provide backup planning, lifecycle retention, or cross-account backup policy features. Systems Manager is not designed as a backup orchestration hub for RDS, so it is an incorrect choice for centralized backup management.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SCS-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 SCS-C02 exam.