SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question

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 Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM)

  Why this is correct

  Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) is a fully managed service designed specifically for automating the creation, retention, and deletion of Amazon EBS snapshots. You create a lifecycle policy that targets EBS volumes by tag or ID, schedule snapshots at specified intervals (e.g., every 12 hours), and set retention rules based on count or age. DLM natively handles snapshot cleanup without any custom code, offers optional cross-region copying, and integrates with EC2 Fast Snapshot Restore. For a single-volume critical web application, DLM provides the most direct, minimal-configuration solution.

• ✗

  AWS Backup

  Why it's wrong here

  AWS Backup requires creating a backup plan, assigning resources, and configuring a backup vault, which introduces unnecessary overhead for automating a single EBS volume snapshot schedule; the scenario demands minimal configuration, whereas Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager applies snapshot policies directly to EBS volumes with fewer steps. AWS Backup is tempting because it centralises backup management across multiple AWS services and would be correct if the company needed to coordinate backups for databases, file systems, and EC2 instances under a unified retention policy.

• ✗

  Amazon CloudWatch Events

  Why it's wrong here

  Amazon CloudWatch Events (now part of Amazon EventBridge) is an event routing service that can trigger automated actions, but it does not natively create or manage EBS snapshots. To use it, you would need to author a custom Lambda function that calls the EC2 CreateSnapshot API, then write additional logic to track snapshot age and delete old snapshots—effectively building your own lifecycle manager. Moreover, CloudWatch Events provides no built-in retention policy, tagging scheme for snapshot governance, or cost-optimization features like automated cross-region copies. This makes it overly complex and error-prone compared to DLM for simple scheduled snapshot automation.

• ✗

  AWS Systems Manager

  Why it's wrong here

  AWS Systems Manager is an operations hub for tasks such as patch management, state testing, and running administrative commands via Run Command or State Manager. You could create an SSM Automation document or maintenance window that calls the EC2 CreateSnapshot API, but that requires custom scripting, IAM role configuration, and separate orchestration for retentio—such as a second automation to prune old snapshots. Unlike DLM, Systems Manager does not provide a purpose-built snapshot policy with declarative retention rules (e.g., “keep 7 snapshots”), and it adds operational overhead for a scenario that asks for minimal configuration. While Systems Manager can technically perform the action, it is not a dedicated snapshot lifecycle service and is not the ideal choice.

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