Question #675
A company operates an application on Amazon EC2 instances, with relational data stored in Amazon RDS PostgreSQL. Regulatory compliance requires the application to recover in a separate AWS Region during an application failure without any data loss. Which solution fulfills these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
Provision an RDS Read Replica in a different Region.
Configure AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) for continuous replication to another Region.
Use RDS automated backups with frequent snapshot copies to another Region.
Set up AWS DataSync for continuous data replication to another Region.
Explanation
Answer A is correct because RDS Read Replicas in a different Region provide a managed, low-overhead solution for cross-region replication. Promoting the Read Replica to a standalone database during an application failure ensures recovery with no data loss, assuming the primary RDS remains operational.
Other options are less optimal:
- B (AWS DMS) requires manual setup and management, increasing overhead.
- C (Automated Backups) relies on snapshots, which may not capture real-time data, risking loss.
- D (DataSync) is unsuitable for continuous RDS replication.
Key Points: Cross-region Read Replicas are AWS-managed, require minimal effort, and ensure recoverability for application-layer failures.
Answer
The correct answer is: A