- A
Create an EFS file system with the One Zone storage class and mount it from all instances.
Why wrong: One Zone storage class stores data only in a single Availability Zone. If that zone fails, the file system becomes unavailable, violating the requirement.
- B
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class, enable replication to another Region, and use DNS failover.
Why wrong: Cross-Region replication provides disaster recovery but introduces cross-Region latency and higher costs. The requirement is for Availability Zone failure resilience within a single Region.
- C
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class in the same Region, and mount it from all instances using the regional mount target.
EFS Standard automatically replicates data across multiple AZs in the Region. Mounting via the regional mount target ensures low-latency access from all AZs and availability during an AZ outage.
- D
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class, and enable Multi-AZ deployment.
Why wrong: Amazon EFS does not have a configurable Multi-AZ deployment option; its Standard storage class inherently replicates across AZs. This option is misleading and unnecessary.
Quick Answer
The correct choice is to create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class in the same Region and mount it from all instances using the regional mount target. This works because the EFS Standard class automatically replicates data across multiple Availability Zones within a Region, providing built-in high availability across availability zones without any manual replication or failover setup. The regional mount target uses a DNS name that resolves to the appropriate mount target in each instance’s Availability Zone, ensuring low-latency access from all instances even during an AZ failure. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of EFS storage classes and mount target behavior—a common trap is choosing a One Zone storage class or using a single AZ mount target, which would break availability. Remember: Standard for survival, regional for low-latency delivery.
SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of reliability and business continuity. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a critical application on Amazon EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones. The application stores state data on a shared Amazon EFS file system. The SysOps administrator needs to ensure that the file system remains available if an entire Availability Zone fails. The file system must also provide low-latency access from all instances. Which configuration meets these requirements?
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
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class in the same Region, and mount it from all instances using the regional mount target.
Option C is correct because the EFS Standard storage class stores data redundantly across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a Region, ensuring high availability and durability even if an entire AZ fails. By mounting the file system using the regional mount target (which resolves to the EFS file system's regional DNS name), instances in any AZ can access the file system with low latency, as EFS automatically routes traffic to the most appropriate mount target in the same AZ. This configuration meets both the availability and low-latency requirements without additional replication or failover complexity.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create an EFS file system with the One Zone storage class and mount it from all instances.
Why it's wrong here
One Zone storage class stores data only in a single Availability Zone. If that zone fails, the file system becomes unavailable, violating the requirement.
- ✗
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class, enable replication to another Region, and use DNS failover.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-Region replication provides disaster recovery but introduces cross-Region latency and higher costs. The requirement is for Availability Zone failure resilience within a single Region.
- ✓
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class in the same Region, and mount it from all instances using the regional mount target.
Why this is correct
EFS Standard automatically replicates data across multiple AZs in the Region. Mounting via the regional mount target ensures low-latency access from all AZs and availability during an AZ outage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class, and enable Multi-AZ deployment.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon EFS does not have a configurable Multi-AZ deployment option; its Standard storage class inherently replicates across AZs. This option is misleading and unnecessary.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse EFS's Standard storage class with RDS's Multi-AZ deployment feature, or incorrectly assume that cross-Region replication is necessary for AZ-level fault tolerance, when in fact EFS's regional storage class already provides Multi-AZ redundancy within a single Region.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EFS uses a regional mount target DNS name (e.g., fs-12345678.efs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com) that automatically resolves to the IP address of a mount target in the same Availability Zone as the connecting EC2 instance, ensuring low-latency access via NFSv4.1 protocol. The Standard storage class replicates file data across at least three Availability Zones within a Region, providing 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability and 99.99% availability, while the One Zone class offers only 99.999999999% durability within a single AZ. EFS does not have a 'Multi-AZ deployment' toggle; its redundancy is inherent to the storage class selection, and cross-Region replication is an optional feature for disaster recovery, not for intra-Region AZ failures.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Reliability and Business Continuity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Reliability and Business Continuity — This question tests Reliability and Business Continuity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an EFS file system with the Standard storage class in the same Region, and mount it from all instances using the regional mount target. — Option C is correct because the EFS Standard storage class stores data redundantly across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a Region, ensuring high availability and durability even if an entire AZ fails. By mounting the file system using the regional mount target (which resolves to the EFS file system's regional DNS name), instances in any AZ can access the file system with low latency, as EFS automatically routes traffic to the most appropriate mount target in the same AZ. This configuration meets both the availability and low-latency requirements without additional replication or failover complexity.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SOA-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 SOA-C02 exam.
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