DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A company needs to ingest data from a MySQL database into Amazon S3 using AWS DMS. The data changes frequently and the requirement is to capture changes in near real-time. Which THREE configurations are necessary?
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
✓
Create an S3 target endpoint in DMS.
Option B is correct because AWS DMS requires an explicitly defined target endpoint that describes the S3 bucket, folder, and IAM role used to write the migrated data. Option C is correct because ongoing change data capture (CDC) from MySQL relies on the source's binary log (binlog), which must be enabled with settings such as log_bin and binlog_format=ROW so DMS can read committed changes in near real-time. Option D is correct because a replication instance is the managed compute resource that runs the DMS migration and CDC tasks between the source and target endpoints. Option A is not required, since a VPC endpoint for S3 is only an optional networking choice and not a mandatory DMS configuration. Option E is not required, because DMS tasks are started and monitored by DMS itself, not by S3 event notifications.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a VPC endpoint for S3.
Why it's wrong here
A VPC endpoint lets DMS reach S3 privately, but it is optional connectivity plumbing, not one of the three required settings. It is the right choice when the replication instance sits in a private subnet without NAT or internet gateway access.
- ✓
Create an S3 target endpoint in DMS.
Why this is correct
DMS requires a target endpoint defining Amazon S3 as the destination, including bucket, folder and IAM role, before any task can write replicated data. Without it, the replication instance has nowhere to deliver the ingested MySQL changes.
- ✓
Enable binary logging (binlog) on the MySQL source database.
Why this is correct
MySQL row-based binary logging records every insert, update and delete, which AWS DMS reads to replicate ongoing changes. Without binlog enabled on the source, DMS can perform only a full load and cannot capture change data continuously for near real-time ingestion.
- ✓
Create an AWS DMS replication instance.
Why this is correct
A replication instance provides the managed compute that runs the migration task, hosts the source and target endpoints, and performs the ongoing change data capture. Without it, DMS cannot read the MySQL binary log or apply near real-time changes to Amazon S3, so it satisfies the near real-time ingestion requirement.
- ✗
Configure an S3 event notification to trigger DMS.
Why it's wrong here
S3 event notifications fire on object creation, not on database change capture, so they cannot drive DMS replication. They are tempting because S3 events commonly trigger downstream processing such as Lambda. The required configuration is DMS change data capture with ongoing replication, not an S3 notification.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DEA-C01 question from scratch — 1,321 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company needs to ingest data from a MySQL database into Amazon S3 in near real-time. The database is running on EC2. The data engineer wants to minimize the impact on the source database. Which service should be used?
easy- ✓ A.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication
- B.AWS Glue ETL job with a JDBC connection
- C.Amazon RDS for MySQL with read replica
- D.AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)
Why A: AWS DMS with ongoing replication (change data capture) is the correct choice because it can continuously replicate changes from a MySQL source database to Amazon S3 with minimal performance impact. DMS uses a transactional log-based approach (MySQL binlog) to capture changes as they occur, avoiding heavy SELECT queries on the source. This enables near real-time ingestion without adding significant load to the production database.
JA
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.