DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A company needs to ingest data from an on-premises Oracle database into Amazon Redshift for analytics. The data volume is 500 GB and the network bandwidth is limited. Which AWS service should be used for the initial one-time data migration?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates choose AWS DMS (Option D) because it is a common database migration tool, but they overlook the explicit constraint of limited network bandwidth, which makes a physical appliance like Snowball the only practical solution for a one-time, large-volume 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
✓
AWS Snowball
AWS Snowball is the correct choice for the initial one-time migration of 500 GB of data from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon Redshift when network bandwidth is limited. Snowball provides a physical storage device that bypasses network constraints entirely, allowing you to transfer large volumes of data securely and quickly by shipping the device to AWS for ingestion into Amazon S3, which can then be loaded into Redshift. This approach avoids the prolonged transfer times and potential bottlenecks associated with limited bandwidth, making it ideal for a one-time, large-scale data 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.
- ✓
AWS Snowball
Why this is correct
Snowball allows physical transfer of data, bypassing network limitations.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect provides dedicated network, but may still be slow for 500 GB over limited bandwidth.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Accelerates network transfer but still depends on internet bandwidth.
- ✗
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why it's wrong here
DMS is good for ongoing replication but initial load over limited bandwidth would be slow.
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 |
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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.