- A
Use AWS Backup to schedule daily backups and restore in another region.
Why wrong: Daily backups result in up to 24 hours of data loss, exceeding the 5-minute RPO, and restore takes hours, exceeding the 1-hour RTO.
- B
Enable DynamoDB global tables for the table.
Global tables replicate data across multiple AWS Regions asynchronously, typically within seconds, achieving low RPO. Failover can be automated via Route 53 health checks to meet RTO.
- C
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) on the table.
Why wrong: PITR protects against accidental writes or deletes but not against a regional outage.
- D
Configure cross-region read replicas for the table.
Why wrong: DynamoDB does not support cross-region read replicas; global tables are the appropriate solution.
Question 11 of 1,546
Using DynamoDB Global Tables to Achieve Low RPO and RTO for Business Continuity
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 company has a production DynamoDB table with on-demand capacity. They need to ensure business continuity with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 5 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 1 hour in case of a regional outage. What is the MOST cost-effective solution?
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
✓
Enable DynamoDB global tables for the table.
DynamoDB global tables provide multi-region, multi-active replication with changes typically propagated within seconds, meeting an RPO of 5 minutes and an RTO of 1 hour by allowing traffic to be redirected to a replica in another region. This is the most cost-effective solution because it eliminates the need for separate backup storage or compute resources, and on-demand capacity scales automatically without provisioning.
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 Backup to schedule daily backups and restore in another region.
Why it's wrong here
Daily backups result in up to 24 hours of data loss, exceeding the 5-minute RPO, and restore takes hours, exceeding the 1-hour RTO.
- ✓
Enable DynamoDB global tables for the table.
Why this is correct
Global tables replicate data across multiple AWS Regions asynchronously, typically within seconds, achieving low RPO. Failover can be automated via Route 53 health checks to meet RTO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) on the table.
Why it's wrong here
PITR protects against accidental writes or deletes but not against a regional outage.
- ✗
Configure cross-region read replicas for the table.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB does not support cross-region read replicas; global tables are the appropriate solution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse point-in-time recovery (PITR) with cross-region disaster recovery, not realizing PITR is single-region only and cannot meet the RTO for a regional outage.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
DynamoDB global tables use a last-writer-wins (LWW) conflict resolution mechanism based on the timestamp in the DynamoDB Streams record, ensuring eventual consistency across regions. The replication latency is typically sub-second to a few seconds, but in practice, an RPO of 5 minutes provides a comfortable buffer for rare propagation delays. On-demand capacity automatically handles traffic spikes without throttling, which is critical during failover when all traffic shifts to the replica region.
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: Enable DynamoDB global tables for the table. — DynamoDB global tables provide multi-region, multi-active replication with changes typically propagated within seconds, meeting an RPO of 5 minutes and an RTO of 1 hour by allowing traffic to be redirected to a replica in another region. This is the most cost-effective solution because it eliminates the need for separate backup storage or compute resources, and on-demand capacity scales automatically without provisioning.
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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