SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question
A SysOps administrator is configuring an Amazon RDS for MySQL Multi-AZ deployment. What is the primary benefit of using Multi-AZ?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Multi-AZ with read replicas, assuming Multi-AZ provides read scaling, when in fact it is solely for high availability and automatic failover.
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
✓
Automatic failover to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone.
In Amazon RDS for MySQL Multi-AZ deployments, the primary benefit is automatic failover to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone. This is achieved through synchronous replication to a standby in a separate AZ, ensuring that if the primary instance fails, RDS automatically promotes the standby to become the new primary, minimizing downtime and maintaining data durability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Improved read performance by distributing queries across multiple instances.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ deployment provides a standby instance that is not used to serve read traffic; the primary instance continues to handle all queries, so read performance is unaffected. Distributing reads across instances requires the Read Replica feature, which creates separate, asynchronous copies specifically for read scaling, not automatic failover. Therefore, this option misidentifies the purpose of the standby.
- ✓
Automatic failover to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone.
Why this is correct
This is the core benefit of a Multi-AZ Amazon RDS deployment: the primary DB instance synchronously replicates data to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone within the same Region. If the primary fails, RDS automatically detects the issue and promotes the standby to primary, updating the DNS endpoint so applications can reconnect with minimal downtime. This provides high availability without requiring manual intervention.
- ✗
Synchronous replication across AWS Regions.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ replication is synchronous, but it occurs between Availability Zones within a single AWS Region, not across Regions. Cross-Region replication would require a different mechanism, such as a cross-Region read replica or Aurora Global Database, which uses asynchronous replication. Thus, this option incorrectly expands the geographic scope of Multi-AZ.
- ✗
Automatic creation of read replicas for disaster recovery.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ does not create read replicas; it maintains a single standby instance that is not available for reads or writes until a failover occurs. Read replicas are a separate feature used for read scaling and can be created manually, but they are not automatically provisioned as part of Multi-AZ. Disaster recovery across Regions would rely on read replicas or point-in-time snapshots, not the Multi-AZ standby.
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