1Z0-997-26 High Availability And Disaster Recovery Practice Question
Your organization has deployed an enterprise workload on OCI Exadata Database Service. You are configuring Data Guard with Fast-Start Failover (FSFO). To prevent split-brain scenarios where both primary and standby databases assume primary roles simultaneously, where must the Data Guard Observer be placed?
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
✓
In a separate fault domain or external location independent of both the primary and standby database nodes.
The Data Guard Observer must run on a third, independent fault domain, availability domain, or separate site (such as another OCI region or on-premises) to act as a neutral arbiter preventing split-brain.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Directly on the primary database compute node to ensure low-latency communication.
Why it's wrong here
Placing the observer on the primary node means if the primary node crashes, the observer crashes with it, preventing automated failover.
- ✗
Inside an OCI Object Storage bucket as a serverless function.
Why it's wrong here
Object Storage cannot host a running Data Guard Observer daemon process.
- ✗
Inside the same Oracle Grid Infrastructure clusterware home on the standby database.
Why it's wrong here
The observer should be external to the primary and standby database clusters to provide unbiased quorum arbitration.
- ✓
In a separate fault domain or external location independent of both the primary and standby database nodes.
Why this is correct
An independent observer location ensures that network partitions do not result in both sides believing they are primary.
About these practice questions
One of 344 original 1Z0-997-26 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Oracle exam blueprint
This 1Z0-997-26 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Oracle 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 1Z0-997-26 exam.