AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 892

A company uses Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL to run its applications in the us-east-1 Region. The company also uses machine learning (ML) models to forecast annual revenue based on near real-time reports. The reports are generated by using the same RDS for PostgreSQL database. The database performance slows during business hours. The company needs to improve database performance.

Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?

Answer options

• A. Create a cross-Region read replica. Configure the reports to be generated from the read replica.
• B. Activate Multi-AZ DB instance deployment for RDS for PostgreSQL. Configure the reports to be generated from the standby database.
• C. Use AWS Data Migration Service (AWS DMS) to logically replicate data to a new database. Configure the reports to be generated from the new database.
• D. Create a read replica in us-east-1. Configure the reports to be generated from the read replica.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

Creating an in-Region read replica (Option D) is the most cost-effective way to offload read-heavy reporting workloads from the primary Amazon RDS database, resolving performance degradation. Option A is more expensive due to cross-Region data transfer fees. Option B is incorrect because Multi-AZ standby instances cannot be queried directly, and Option C introduces unnecessary operational overhead and cost compared to native RDS replication.