SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation 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.

• ✓

  Select the snapshot, then configure instance details, then configure security and parameters, then initiate restore.

  Why this is correct

  Restoring from an RDS snapshot begins by selecting the source snapshot in the console, because this action pre-populates the engine, version, and other immutable attributes. You then configure instance details such as DB instance identifier, instance class, and allocated storage, which are required before associating security groups and parameter groups. Finally, you initiate the restore, which provisions a new DB instance using all the selected settings; this order ensures that the parameter and security groups are applied to a fully specified instance.

• ✗

  Select the snapshot, then configure security and parameters, then configure instance details, then initiate restore.

  Why it's wrong here

  This sequence is invalid because security groups and parameter groups are assigned to a DB instance after its core configuration is defined, not before. You must first finish the instance details screen, where you choose the VPC, subnet, DB instance class, and storage, because the available security groups and parameter groups depend on the VPC and engine you specify. Attempting to set them first would force the console to apply settings to a not-yet-defined instance and could cause validation errors.

• ✗

  Configure instance details, then select the snapshot, then configure security and parameters, then initiate restore.

  Why it's wrong here

  This order misunderstands the restore workflow, which always begins with selecting the snapshot as the source, because the snapshot determines the DB engine, major version, and storage configuration. Without a source snapshot, you cannot meaningfully configure instance details, as those details are tied to the snapshot's metadata and must match its capabilities. Therefore, the console forces you to choose the snapshot first, and skipping it would make the later steps impossible or produce a mismatched instance.

• ✗

  Select the snapshot, then initiate restore, then configure instance details, then configure security and parameters.

  Why it's wrong here

  Initiating the restore is the final step, not an early one, because the Activate/Restore button validates and builds the instance from the configuration you provided. If you clicked restore first, the service would attempt to launch the DB instance with no instance class, storage, or network settings, and you could not go back to modify them after the restore job starts. This order also breaks the dependency chain where security and parameter groups must be applied before the restore operation is triggered.

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