DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often 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.
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 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.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
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
Transfer Acceleration speeds up S3 uploads over long distances; it does not read MySQL binlogs or replicate schema and data. It would be correct for accelerating large object transfers into a bucket, not for a consistent database migration.
- ✗
AWS Glue
Why it's wrong here
Glue is a serverless Spark ETL service for transforming and cataloguing data, not a database replication tool; it cannot capture ongoing MySQL changes. It would be the right choice for batch ETL between data stores, not for minimising cutover downtime.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
AWS Database Migration Service performs continuous change data capture from the on-premises MySQL source, replicating ongoing transactions to Amazon RDS for MySQL until cutover. This satisfies the minimal-downtime requirement, while its validation feature confirms row-level data consistency between source and target before the switch.
- ✗
AWS Snowball Edge
Why it's wrong here
Snowball Edge ships physical storage for bulk offline transfer, which cannot maintain transactional consistency or replicate ongoing MySQL writes. It suits moving terabytes of files to S3 from sites with poor bandwidth, not a live database cutover.
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