- A
Enable Multi-AZ deployment with a synchronous standby replica in another Availability Zone
Why wrong: Multi-AZ only protects against an AZ failure within the same region, not a regional outage. It does not meet the regional DR requirement.
- B
Create a cross-Region read replica and promote it to a standalone DB instance during a disaster
Why wrong: A cross-Region read replica provides low RPO (seconds) but requires a running instance in the DR region, incurring ongoing costs. Additionally, promotion may take longer than 1 hour.
- C
Enable cross-Region automated backups to another Region
Cross-Region automated backups replicate snapshots and transaction logs to another region, achieving an RPO of about 5 minutes and RTO of under 1 hour, with no extra compute cost until recovery.
- D
Take daily automated snapshots and copy them to another Region manually
Why wrong: Daily snapshots have an RPO of up to 24 hours, which does not meet the 5-minute RPO requirement.
Quick Answer
The answer is enabling cross-Region automated backups to another Region, because this feature replicates transaction logs to a secondary AWS Region with a lag of just a few minutes, allowing point-in-time recovery that meets a 5-minute RPO. When a disaster strikes, you restore those automated backups to a new DB instance in the destination Region, and with a properly sized instance the restore time can stay under one hour, satisfying the 1-hour RTO while minimizing costs by avoiding the continuous compute and storage overhead of a standby or read replica. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of balancing RPO/RTO requirements against cost—a common trap is choosing Multi-AZ or a read replica, which either fails the cross-Region DR need or incurs higher ongoing costs. Remember the memory tip: “Backup logs cross-Region for cheap DR, not a live standby.”
SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of reliability and business continuity. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 MySQL database on an Amazon RDS DB instance in a single Availability Zone. The SysOps administrator needs to implement a disaster recovery solution with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour, while minimizing costs. Which solution 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
Enable cross-Region automated backups to another Region
Option C is correct because cross-Region automated backups replicate transaction logs to another AWS Region with a typical lag of a few minutes, enabling point-in-time recovery (PITR) that can meet an RPO of 5 minutes. When a disaster occurs, you can restore the automated backup to a new DB instance in the destination Region, and the RTO depends on the restore time, which can be under 1 hour for a properly sized instance. This solution minimizes costs by avoiding the continuous compute and storage overhead of a standby replica or read replica.
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.
- ✗
Enable Multi-AZ deployment with a synchronous standby replica in another Availability Zone
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ only protects against an AZ failure within the same region, not a regional outage. It does not meet the regional DR requirement.
- ✗
Create a cross-Region read replica and promote it to a standalone DB instance during a disaster
Why it's wrong here
A cross-Region read replica provides low RPO (seconds) but requires a running instance in the DR region, incurring ongoing costs. Additionally, promotion may take longer than 1 hour.
- ✓
Enable cross-Region automated backups to another Region
Why this is correct
Cross-Region automated backups replicate snapshots and transaction logs to another region, achieving an RPO of about 5 minutes and RTO of under 1 hour, with no extra compute cost until recovery.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Take daily automated snapshots and copy them to another Region manually
Why it's wrong here
Daily snapshots have an RPO of up to 24 hours, which does not meet the 5-minute RPO requirement.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse cross-Region read replicas (asynchronous, higher RPO) with cross-Region automated backups (log-based, lower RPO), or assume Multi-AZ provides cross-Region disaster recovery when it only covers AZ failures within a single Region.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cross-Region automated backups for RDS MySQL use asynchronous replication of binary log (binlog) files to the destination Region, with a typical lag of 1–5 minutes under normal conditions. The RTO is primarily determined by the time to restore the backup to a new DB instance, which includes downloading the backup from Amazon S3, applying transaction logs, and provisioning the instance — this can be optimized by pre-provisioning a snapshot or using a larger instance class. In a real-world scenario, if the source Region experiences a complete failure, you can initiate a restore from the latest automated backup in the destination Region, and the RTO can be under 1 hour if the backup is recent and the instance size is adequate.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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.
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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: Enable cross-Region automated backups to another Region — Option C is correct because cross-Region automated backups replicate transaction logs to another AWS Region with a typical lag of a few minutes, enabling point-in-time recovery (PITR) that can meet an RPO of 5 minutes. When a disaster occurs, you can restore the automated backup to a new DB instance in the destination Region, and the RTO depends on the restore time, which can be under 1 hour for a properly sized instance. This solution minimizes costs by avoiding the continuous compute and storage overhead of a standby replica or read replica.
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.
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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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