This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is migrating its on-premises MySQL database to Amazon RDS for MySQL. They want to minimize downtime and ensure data consistency. Which AWS service should be used for the migration?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
AWS S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why wrong: S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to S3 but is not a database migration service.
AWS Glue
Why wrong: Glue is an ETL service, not designed for live database migration.
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
DMS supports continuous replication and minimal downtime for database migrations.
AWS Snowball Edge
Why wrong: Snowball is for offline data transfer, not live database migration.
Answer choices
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 is specifically designed for migrating databases to AWS with minimal downtime. DMS supports homogeneous migrations like MySQL to Amazon RDS for MySQL, and it uses ongoing replication (change data capture) to keep the source and target databases in sync during the migration, ensuring data consistency and allowing a cutover with only seconds of downtime.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to S3 but is not a database migration service.
AWS Glue
Why it's wrong here
Glue is an ETL service, not designed for live database migration.
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
DMS supports continuous replication and minimal downtime for database migrations.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Snowball Edge
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is for offline data transfer, not live database migration.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse AWS DMS with AWS Glue, thinking both are for data migration, but Glue is for batch ETL and cannot perform live database replication with minimal downtime, while DMS is purpose-built for that task.
Detailed technical explanation
AWS DMS uses a replication instance to connect to the source MySQL database and the target RDS for MySQL instance. For minimal downtime, DMS performs a full load of existing data and then applies ongoing changes via change data capture (CDC), which reads the MySQL binary logs (binlogs) in row-based format to capture insert, update, and delete operations. In real-world scenarios, you must ensure that binlog retention is configured appropriately on the source to prevent logs from being purged before DMS reads them, and that the source database has the necessary privileges (e.g., REPLICATION SLAVE, REPLICATION CLIENT) for CDC to work.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) — AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it is specifically designed for migrating databases to AWS with minimal downtime. DMS supports homogeneous migrations like MySQL to Amazon RDS for MySQL, and it uses ongoing replication (change data capture) to keep the source and target databases in sync during the migration, ensuring data consistency and allowing a cutover with only seconds of downtime.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.
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