The answer is to create a Multi-AZ deployment and then add a Read Replica in a different Availability Zone. This solution directly addresses both requirements because the Multi-AZ configuration provides automatic failover for high availability, while the Read Replica offloads read-heavy traffic from the primary instance, improving read performance without scaling up the expensive primary. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between high availability and read scaling—a common trap is assuming Multi-AZ alone improves read performance, which it does not, as the standby is only for failover. Another trap is over-engineering with ElastiCache or costly instance resizing when a simple Read Replica suffices. For memory, remember the mantra: “Multi-AZ for failover, Read Replica for readers.” This combination delivers both resilience and throughput at minimal cost.
SOA-C02 Cost and Performance Optimization Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cost and performance optimization. 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 RDS for PostgreSQL database with a db.r5.large instance. The database experiences high read traffic during business hours. The SysOps administrator needs to improve read performance and ensure high availability at minimal cost. Which solution should the administrator implement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a Multi-AZ deployment and then add a Read Replica in a different Availability Zone.
The correct answer is A. A Multi-AZ deployment with a Read Replica in another AZ provides both high availability and read scaling. Option B is wrong because increasing instance size is costly and does not provide HA. Option C is wrong because Multi-AZ alone does not offload read queries. Option D is wrong because ElastiCache adds complexity and cost, and is not directly a database solution.
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.
✗
Upgrade the instance to db.r5.xlarge and enable automatic backups.
Why it's wrong here
Vertical scaling is costly and does not provide HA or read scaling.
✓
Create a Multi-AZ deployment and then add a Read Replica in a different Availability Zone.
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ provides failover, Read Replica offloads read traffic, and both improve availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable Multi-AZ on the existing instance to provide automatic failover but no read scaling.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ alone does not distribute read queries.
✗
Use Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to cache frequent queries.
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache is a caching layer, not a database scaling solution for RDS.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Cost and Performance Optimization — This question tests Cost and Performance Optimization — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a Multi-AZ deployment and then add a Read Replica in a different Availability Zone. — The correct answer is A. A Multi-AZ deployment with a Read Replica in another AZ provides both high availability and read scaling. Option B is wrong because increasing instance size is costly and does not provide HA. Option C is wrong because Multi-AZ alone does not offload read queries. Option D is wrong because ElastiCache adds complexity and cost, and is not directly a database solution.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company has a production RDS MySQL instance with 500 GB of gp2 storage. The database experiences high read traffic. The SysOps team needs to improve read performance at minimal cost. What should they do?
medium
A.Migrate the database to Amazon Aurora with Auto Scaling enabled.
B.Change the storage type to gp3 and increase IOPS.
C.Upgrade the DB instance to a larger instance type with more vCPUs.
✓ D.Create one or more RDS Read Replicas in the same region and direct read traffic to them.
Why D: Option A is correct because adding Read Replicas offloads read queries from the primary instance, improving performance cost-effectively. Option B is wrong because migrating to Aurora is more expensive. Option C is wrong because gp3 might not provide enough IOPS for read-heavy workloads. Option D is wrong because vertical scaling is more costly than horizontal scaling.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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This SOA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SOA-C02 exam.
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