CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-004)Cloud ArchitectureHard
A cloud engineer is designing a highly available application architecture. The application stores critical data that must be accessible even if an entire data center fails. The chosen storage solution must offer synchronous replication across multiple geographically distinct regions to ensure zero data loss (RPO = 0) and minimal downtime (RTO close to 0) during a disaster. Which storage tier characteristic is crucial for this requirement?
- AMulti-Region Relational Database with synchronous replication
- BObject Storage with eventual consistency
- CBlock Storage with local RAID
- DFile Storage with asynchronous backups
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Multi-Region Relational Database with synchronous replication
Synchronous replication across geographically distinct regions for a relational database ensures that data is written to all replicas before a transaction is committed, achieving RPO=0 and enabling rapid failover for RTO close to 0 in a disaster scenario.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Object storage with eventual consistency does not guarantee RPO=0, as data might not be immediately replicated across regions.
- C. Block storage with local RAID provides high availability within a single data center but does not protect against an entire region or data center failure.
- D. File storage with asynchronous backups introduces a recovery point objective (RPO) greater than zero, meaning some data loss can occur between backups.
Synchronous Replication (RPO=0)
A data replication method where data is written to both the primary and secondary storage locations (often in different regions) simultaneously. A transaction is not considered complete until all replicas confirm the write, ensuring zero data loss (RPO=0) but potentially introducing latency.
- Guarantees RPO (Recovery Point Objective) of zero
- Data is written to all replicas before commit
- Ensures no data loss during failover
- Can introduce write latency across long distances
Memory trick: Synchronous writes, zero loss, multi-region boss.