CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A company needs to synchronize data in real time between its on-premises Oracle database and an Amazon RDS MySQL instance during a migration. Which AWS service handles ongoing data replication between heterogeneous databases?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse AWS DataSync (file sync) or Kinesis (streaming) with database replication, but only DMS provides native support for ongoing, heterogeneous database replication using CDC.
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
✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports ongoing replication (change data capture, CDC) from an on-premises Oracle database to an Amazon RDS MySQL instance, even when the source and target are heterogeneous database engines. DMS uses a replication instance to read the source database's transaction logs and apply changes in near real time to the target, making it ideal for continuous synchronization during a migration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS DataSync
Why it's wrong here
AWS DataSync is an online data transfer service designed to move large files and objects between on-premises storage (like NFS or SMB shares) and AWS storage services (such as Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS) over the network. It focuses on file-level synchronization and does not understand relational database structures, transactions, or change data capture (CDC) from database logs. DataSync can copy flat files or backups, but it cannot replicate live transactional changes from a source relational database to a target database with referential integrity and minimal downtime.
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AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is a fully managed service that automates both full-load migration and ongoing replication through change data capture (CDC). DMS reads the source database's transaction logs to capture incremental changes and continuously applies them to the target database, enabling heterogeneous migrations (e.g., Oracle to Aurora PostgreSQL) with minimal downtime and live cutover. It understands dialect mappings and schema structures, making it the only option here that provides true transactional replication between relational databases.
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AWS Snowball
Why it's wrong here
AWS Snowball is a petabyte-scale physical data transfer device designed for moving large volumes of data to and from AWS via storage appliances shipped through the postal service. It does not perform continuous, real-time replication of database transactions, nor does it understand the transactional semantics of heterogeneous database engines. Additionally, Snowball requires you to ship the device and wait for it to arrive, making it inherently batch-oriented and unsuitable for minimizing downtime during a live database migration.
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Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is a real-time streaming service that ingests and processes large streams of data records, such as clickstreams, logs, and IoT telemetry. While it can capture transactional changes if an application explicitly writes them as data records, it has no native awareness of database transaction logs, table schemas, or heterogeneous database engines. Kinesis is a general-purpose data ingestion and processing pipeline, not a managed replication engine that can mirror complete relational database schemas and apply changes consistently across different database platforms.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services 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 CLF-C02 exam.