CV0-004 Deployment Practice Question
A cloud architect is designing a deployment for a multi-tier application on AWS. The application consists of a web tier, an application tier, and a database tier. The architect needs to ensure that the deployment is highly available and can survive an Availability Zone failure. Which two configurations should be included in the design? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a single NAT gateway or a single Availability Zone deployment is sufficient for high availability, when in fact they introduce single points of failure.
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
✓
Configure the database tier with a Multi-AZ deployment using Amazon RDS.
To achieve high availability and survive an Availability Zone failure, the web and application tiers should be deployed across multiple AZs using an Auto Scaling group, and the database tier should use a Multi-AZ deployment such as Amazon RDS Multi-AZ. These two configurations ensure that no single AZ failure takes down the entire application. The Auto Scaling group maintains capacity, and the Multi-AZ database provides automatic failover.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure the database tier with a Multi-AZ deployment using Amazon RDS.
Why this is correct
Amazon RDS Multi-AZ deployments create a standby replica in a different Availability Zone and automatically fail over to it in case of an AZ failure. This ensures database availability and durability. It is a key component for a highly available multi-tier application, as it eliminates the database as a single point of failure.
- ✓
Deploy the web and application tiers across multiple Availability Zones using an Auto Scaling group.
Why this is correct
Deploying the web and application tiers across multiple Availability Zones with an Auto Scaling group ensures that if one Availability Zone fails, instances in other zones continue to serve traffic. The Auto Scaling group can automatically replace failed instances and maintain capacity. This is a fundamental practice for high availability in AWS.
- ✗
Place all tiers in a single Availability Zone to minimize latency.
Why it's wrong here
Placing all tiers in a single Availability Zone makes the entire application vulnerable to an AZ failure. While it may reduce latency slightly, it directly contradicts the requirement for high availability and survivability. This is not a recommended practice for production workloads that require high availability.
- ✗
Use a single NAT gateway for all private subnets to reduce cost.
Why it's wrong here
A single NAT gateway is a single point of failure. If the Availability Zone containing the NAT gateway fails, all private subnets lose outbound internet access, impacting the application tier. For high availability, you should deploy a NAT gateway in each Availability Zone and configure route tables accordingly. This option does not meet the requirement to survive an AZ failure.
- ✗
Use an Application Load Balancer to distribute traffic only within a single Availability Zone.
Why it's wrong here
An Application Load Balancer can distribute traffic across multiple Availability Zones. Configuring it to operate within a single AZ would defeat the purpose of high availability. The ALB itself is highly available when enabled for multiple AZs. This option would not allow the application to survive an AZ failure.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CV0-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CV0-004 exam.