SAA-C03 Exam Dumps : AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03)

A. EC2 with EBS:Does not support SQL Server Always On availability groups effectively.

B. RDS Multi-AZ:Provides high availability but does not support SQL Server Always On availability groups.

C. EC2 with FSx for Windows:Best solution for SQL Server Always On as FSx provides shared storage compatible with SQL Server clustering.

D. EC2 with S3:S3 is not suitable for SQL Server storage.

AWS Secrets Manager is the managed service for securely storing, rotating, and retrieving database credentials. When you store Aurora credentials in Secrets Manager and enable automatic rotation, Secrets Manager updates the credentials in both the database and the stored secret.

Each Lambda function version or alias can call Secrets Manager at runtime to retrieve the current secret value, so even older deployed Lambda versions that use an alias will always obtain the most recent credentials without redeployment.

Why others are not suitable:

B: Embeds credentials in code, requiring redeployment on every rotation and violating security best practices.

C: Environment variables are version-specific; old aliases would continue using outdated values unless you redeploy or change them.

D: Parameter Store can store and rotate secrets but is less integrated for database credential rotation than Secrets Manager; Secrets Manager is the purpose-built minimal-overhead choice here.

AWS Secrets Manager is purpose-built to securely store, manage, and rotate sensitive credentials such as database user names and passwords. Option A is the most operationally efficient solution because it eliminates manual password rotation, reduces human error, and centralizes secret lifecycle management. Secrets Manager integrates natively with Amazon Aurora, enabling automated credential rotation using AWS-managed or custom Lambda rotation logic. Once rotation is enabled, Secrets Manager updates the database credentials and stores the new values securely without requiring administrators to manually update files on EC2 instances.

By assigning IAM permissions to the secret, access can be tightly controlled using least-privilege principles. The application retrieves credentials at runtime, removing the need to store passwords locally on disk, which significantly improves security posture. Secrets Manager also provides auditing capabilities through AWS CloudTrail, allowing visibility into secret access and changes.

Option B (Systems Manager Parameter Store) can securely store secrets, but automated rotation is not natively supported in the same way as Secrets Manager. Implementing rotation with Parameter Store would require additional custom automation, increasing operational complexity. Option C stores credentials in S3, which is not designed for frequent credential rotation or secure secret access patterns, even when encrypted. Option D only encrypts credentials at rest on individual instances and does not address rotation, distribution, or centralized management, resulting in high operational overhead.

Therefore, A best meets the requirements by providing secure storage, automated monthly rotation, fine-grained access control, and minimal operational effort, aligning with AWS security and operational excellence best practices.