- A
Stop the EC2 instance before taking the snapshot.
Why wrong: Stopping causes downtime.
- B
Take a snapshot directly from the attached volume without any preparation.
Why wrong: Without freezing, the snapshot may be inconsistent.
- C
Detach the volume from the instance before taking a snapshot.
Why wrong: Detaching causes downtime and may not be possible without stopping the instance.
- D
Take a snapshot of the EBS volume after freezing.
Snapshot after freezing yields crash-consistent backup without downtime.
- E
Freeze the filesystem and flush I/O operations using a tool like fsfreeze.
Freezing ensures a crash-consistent state.
Question 495 of 1,546
SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of reliability and business continuity. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 SysOps administrator wants to back up an Amazon EBS volume that is attached to an EC2 instance running a production database. The backup must be crash-consistent and should not cause any downtime. Which TWO steps should the administrator take? (Choose two.)
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
✓
Take a snapshot of the EBS volume after freezing.
Option D is correct because taking a snapshot after freezing the filesystem ensures that the snapshot captures a crash-consistent state of the EBS volume. Option E is correct because using a tool like fsfreeze flushes all pending I/O operations and freezes the filesystem, which prevents data inconsistencies without stopping the EC2 instance or detaching the volume.
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.
- ✗
Stop the EC2 instance before taking the snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
Stopping causes downtime.
- ✗
Take a snapshot directly from the attached volume without any preparation.
Why it's wrong here
Without freezing, the snapshot may be inconsistent.
- ✗
Detach the volume from the instance before taking a snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
Detaching causes downtime and may not be possible without stopping the instance.
- ✓
Take a snapshot of the EBS volume after freezing.
Why this is correct
Snapshot after freezing yields crash-consistent backup without downtime.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Freeze the filesystem and flush I/O operations using a tool like fsfreeze.
Why this is correct
Freezing ensures a crash-consistent state.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think stopping the instance or detaching the volume is necessary for a crash-consistent backup, but AWS allows crash-consistent snapshots without downtime by freezing the filesystem and flushing I/O operations.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EBS snapshots are point-in-time copies that are incremental and stored in Amazon S3. When a snapshot is initiated, it captures data written to the volume at the moment of the API call, but ongoing writes can lead to an inconsistent state. Using fsfreeze (via the FIFREEZE ioctl) on Linux or VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) on Windows ensures that the filesystem is quiesced and all pending writes are flushed to disk, making the snapshot crash-consistent. This is critical for databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL that rely on write-ahead logs to recover from crashes.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
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: Take a snapshot of the EBS volume after freezing. — Option D is correct because taking a snapshot after freezing the filesystem ensures that the snapshot captures a crash-consistent state of the EBS volume. Option E is correct because using a tool like fsfreeze flushes all pending I/O operations and freezes the filesystem, which prevents data inconsistencies without stopping the EC2 instance or detaching the volume.
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: Jul 4, 2026
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