SOA-C02 Practice Question: RDS automated backups and the retention period…
A production RDS MySQL database stores financial records. The team needs the ability to restore the database to any point within the last 7 days in case of accidental data deletion. Automated backups are currently disabled. What must be configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse manual snapshots with automated backups, not realizing that only automated backups enable point-in-time recovery, while manual snapshots are static and cannot be used for granular restoration.
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 automated backups and set the backup retention period to 7 days
To restore an RDS MySQL database to any point within the last 7 days, you must enable automated backups and set the backup retention period to 7 days. Automated backups enable point-in-time recovery (PITR), which allows restoration to any second within the retention window using binary logs. Without automated backups, RDS cannot perform PITR, even if manual snapshots exist.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enable automated backups and set the backup retention period to 7 days
Why this is correct
Automated backups with a 7-day retention period keep daily snapshots and transaction logs for 7 days. Any point within the retention window is recoverable. Transaction logs allow recovery to any 5-minute interval within that window. Setting the period to 0 disables automated backups and PITR entirely.
- ✗
Create a manual DB snapshot every night using the AWS CLI on a schedule
Why it's wrong here
Manual snapshots can restore to the exact moment the snapshot was taken, but they cannot support point-in-time recovery to an arbitrary second between snapshots. Without automated backups, transaction logs are not retained, so restoring to the moment just before an accidental deletion is not possible.
- ✗
Enable Multi-AZ to maintain a synchronous standby replica in a second Availability Zone
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ provides high availability by failing over to a synchronous standby if the primary fails. The standby replica mirrors all writes including accidental deletes — it does not enable point-in-time recovery. Multi-AZ is for HA, not for PITR.
- ✗
Enable RDS read replicas and promote one if data deletion occurs
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas use asynchronous replication. An accidental DELETE on the primary replicates to all read replicas within seconds. Promoting a replica after the deletion gives you the deleted state, not the pre-deletion state. Read replicas are for read scaling, not PITR.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.