Quick Answer
The answer is the failover routing policy. This policy is the correct choice because it is specifically designed for high availability by directing traffic to a primary resource, such as a web server in one Availability Zone, and automatically rerouting to a secondary resource in another zone if the primary becomes unhealthy. For the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of Route 53 routing policies in the context of fault tolerance and health checks—a common scenario where you must distinguish failover from weighted, latency, or geolocation policies. A frequent trap is confusing failover with weighted routing, but remember that weighted distributes traffic proportionally without health-based failover, while failover is the only policy that explicitly pairs a primary and secondary resource for automatic recovery. Memory tip: think "failover = fallback" to recall that it switches to a backup when the primary fails.
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 uses Amazon Route 53 for DNS resolution. The company wants to ensure that if a web server becomes unhealthy, traffic is automatically routed to a healthy server in another Availability Zone. Which routing policy should be used?
Latency routing policy
Why wrong: Routes based on latency, not health.
Weighted routing policy
Why wrong: Distributes traffic based on weights, not health.
Geolocation routing policy
Why wrong: Routes based on geographic location.
Failover routing policy
Routes to primary unless unhealthy, then to secondary.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Failover routing policy
Option A is correct because failover routing policy directs traffic to a primary resource, and if it is unhealthy, to a secondary resource. Option B is wrong because weighted routing distributes traffic proportionally, not based on health. Option C is wrong because latency routing routes based on latency, not health. Option D is wrong because geolocation routes based on geographic location.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Latency routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Routes based on latency, not health.
Weighted routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Distributes traffic based on weights, not health.
Geolocation routing policy
Why it's wrong here
Routes based on geographic location.
Failover routing policy
Why this is correct
Routes to primary unless unhealthy, then to secondary.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Reliability and Business Continuity — study guide chapter
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Reliability and Business Continuity practice questions
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FAQ
Reliability and Business Continuity — This question tests Reliability and Business Continuity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Failover routing policy — Option A is correct because failover routing policy directs traffic to a primary resource, and if it is unhealthy, to a secondary resource. Option B is wrong because weighted routing distributes traffic proportionally, not based on health. Option C is wrong because latency routing routes based on latency, not health. Option D is wrong because geolocation routes based on geographic location.
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 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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