CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. The application requires a relational database and must support read-heavy workloads with minimal latency for users across North America and Europe. The database must be highly available and provide automatic failover. Which AWS database solution should the architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any multi-AZ or read replica configuration will provide low-latency global reads, but only Aurora Global Database offers a managed cross-region replication with a unified global endpoint and fast failover.
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
✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database with a primary cluster in one region and secondary clusters in another region.
Amazon Aurora Global Database provides a relational database with global replication, low-latency reads, and fast failover. It is ideal for read-heavy workloads distributed across multiple regions. The storage-based replication ensures minimal lag, and secondary clusters can serve read traffic locally. This solution meets the requirements for high availability, automatic failover, and global low-latency access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon Aurora Global Database with a primary cluster in one region and secondary clusters in another region.
Why this is correct
Aurora Global Database is designed for global applications. It consists of a primary cluster in one region and up to five secondary clusters in other regions. Replication is storage-based and typically has less than one second of latency. Secondary clusters can serve read traffic with low latency, and failover to a secondary region can be performed quickly. This meets the requirements for read-heavy workloads, low latency, and high availability.
- ✗
Amazon DynamoDB with global tables enabled and provisioned throughput in both regions.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is a NoSQL database and does not support relational data models or complex SQL queries. While global tables provide multi-region replication and low-latency reads, they are not suitable for legacy relational applications that require joins, transactions, and a fixed schema. This option does not meet the relational database requirement.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift with a multi-node cluster and cross-region snapshot copy.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Redshift is a data warehouse optimized for analytical queries, not transactional workloads. It does not support the low-latency, high-concurrency read/write patterns typical of an online transactional application. Cross-region snapshot copy is for disaster recovery, not for serving live read traffic. This option is inappropriate for a relational OLTP application.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL with a Multi-AZ deployment and read replicas in both regions.
Why it's wrong here
RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability with automatic failover, and read replicas can offload read traffic. However, read replicas are asynchronous and can introduce replication lag. Cross-region read replicas are possible but require manual promotion and do not provide a unified global endpoint. This solution adds management overhead and may not meet minimal latency requirements for a global user base.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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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.