DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A company is using AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate a 2 TB Oracle database to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. The migration must have minimal downtime. The source database is highly active with continuous writes. Which DMS migration type and additional configuration should the engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume a CDC-only task can handle both initial load and ongoing changes, but DMS requires a full load phase to populate the target before CDC can start, and they overlook that a full load alone cannot capture writes occurring during the migration.
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
✓
Use a full load migration task followed by ongoing replication (CDC).
A full load migration followed by ongoing replication (CDC) allows the initial data copy to complete while continuously capturing and applying incremental changes from the highly active source. This minimizes downtime by keeping the target database nearly synchronized, requiring only a brief cutover window to stop writes and finalize replication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a CDC-only migration task to capture changes from the source.
Why it's wrong here
CDC-only tasks apply ongoing changes but require an existing target with data; they do not load initial data.
- ✗
Use a full load migration task and stop the source database before starting.
Why it's wrong here
Stopping the source would cause downtime; a full load alone cannot capture changes during migration.
- ✗
Use a full load migration task with task restart enabled.
Why it's wrong here
Task restart only resumes a failed task; it does not capture ongoing changes.
- ✓
Use a full load migration task followed by ongoing replication (CDC).
Why this is correct
Full load migrates existing data, then CDC replicates new changes, minimizing downtime.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.