- A
Use AWS CloudEndure to continuously replicate the EC2 instances to another Region.
Why wrong: More expensive than needed for 15-minute RPO.
- B
Use AWS Backup to back up the application data to Amazon S3 every 15 minutes.
Why wrong: S3 is not designed for live application recovery.
- C
Take hourly AMIs of the instances and copy them to another Region.
Why wrong: Hourly AMIs do not meet 15-minute RPO.
- D
Take EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and copy them to another Region using cross-region snapshot copy.
Meets RPO of 15 minutes and RTO of 1 hour cost-effectively.
Question 1,085 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 is designing a disaster recovery strategy for a critical application that runs on EC2 instances. The application data is stored on EBS volumes. The recovery point objective (RPO) is 15 minutes, and the recovery time objective (RTO) is 1 hour. Which solution meets these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
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 EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and copy them to another Region using cross-region snapshot copy.
Option D is correct because taking EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and using cross-region snapshot copy meets the 15-minute RPO and 1-hour RTO while being the most cost-effective. EBS snapshots are incremental, storing only changed blocks, which minimizes storage costs compared to full AMIs. Cross-region snapshot copy ensures data is available in another Region for recovery within the RTO.
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.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudEndure to continuously replicate the EC2 instances to another Region.
Why it's wrong here
More expensive than needed for 15-minute RPO.
- ✗
Use AWS Backup to back up the application data to Amazon S3 every 15 minutes.
Why it's wrong here
S3 is not designed for live application recovery.
- ✗
Take hourly AMIs of the instances and copy them to another Region.
Why it's wrong here
Hourly AMIs do not meet 15-minute RPO.
- ✓
Take EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and copy them to another Region using cross-region snapshot copy.
Why this is correct
Meets RPO of 15 minutes and RTO of 1 hour cost-effectively.
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 often choose hourly AMIs (Option C) thinking they are faster to restore, but they fail to recognize that AMIs include full volume data and are taken less frequently, missing the 15-minute RPO and costing more due to full copies rather than incremental snapshots.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EBS snapshots are stored in Amazon S3 but are managed as snapshots, not standard S3 objects; they use incremental block-level changes, so only modified blocks are uploaded after the initial snapshot. Cross-region snapshot copy uses the AWS global infrastructure to replicate snapshots asynchronously, and the time to copy depends on the snapshot size and changed blocks, but for typical workloads, a 15-minute interval allows the copy to complete within the RTO. In a real-world scenario, you would automate snapshot creation and copy using Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) or AWS Backup with custom schedules to enforce the 15-minute interval.
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: Take EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and copy them to another Region using cross-region snapshot copy. — Option D is correct because taking EBS snapshots every 15 minutes and using cross-region snapshot copy meets the 15-minute RPO and 1-hour RTO while being the most cost-effective. EBS snapshots are incremental, storing only changed blocks, which minimizes storage costs compared to full AMIs. Cross-region snapshot copy ensures data is available in another Region for recovery within the RTO.
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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