DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company uses AWS DMS to migrate data from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon Redshift. The migration is successful, but after a few days, data in Redshift becomes inconsistent with the source due to ongoing changes. The company needs to keep Redshift synchronized with minimal latency. Which approach should the data engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Amazon Redshift Spectrum's federated querying capability with actual data replication, or assume that nightly batch loads (Option C) are sufficient for 'minimal latency' requirements, when DMS CDC is the only option that provides continuous, low-latency synchronization.
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
✓
Configure DMS with ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC).
AWS DMS supports ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC), which captures incremental changes from the Oracle source (via Oracle LogMiner or binary logs) and applies them to Amazon Redshift in near real-time. This approach ensures that Redshift remains synchronized with the source database with minimal latency, meeting the requirement for ongoing consistency after the initial full load.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure DMS with ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC).
Why this is correct
Ongoing replication with CDC lets AWS DMS continuously apply source Oracle changes to Redshift, satisfying the requirement to keep Redshift synchronised with minimal latency after the initial full load. Without CDC, only a one-time migration occurs, so later source changes never propagate.
- ✗
Use Amazon Redshift COPY with S3 staging and AWS Lambda triggers.
Why it's wrong here
COPY with S3 staging and Lambda triggers performs batch loads, so changes between runs are missed and latency depends on trigger frequency. It is tempting because COPY is the standard Redshift bulk-load path, but continuous replication requires DMS change data capture with ongoing replication tasks.
- ✗
Schedule a full DMS load every night.
Why it's wrong here
A nightly full load leaves up to 24 hours of divergence, contradicting the minimal-latency requirement, and repeatedly reloading the whole table is costly. Scheduled full loads are tempting for simple resynchronisation, but continuous replication needs DMS change data capture applying ongoing changes.
- ✗
Set up Amazon Redshift Spectrum to query the Oracle database directly.
Why it's wrong here
Spectrum queries external data in S3 through the Glue Data Catalog; it cannot federate to an on-premises Oracle instance, so no ongoing replication occurs. It is tempting because Spectrum avoids copying data, and it would be the right choice for querying S3-based external tables without loading them into Redshift.
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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 uses AWS DMS to migrate data from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon Aurora MySQL. After the migration, the data in Aurora is inconsistent with the source. The engineer needs to ensure ongoing replication with minimal downtime. Which solution should the engineer implement?
medium- A.Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to convert the schema
- B.Export the data from Oracle and import into Aurora using mysqldump
- ✓ C.Configure a DMS task with change data capture (CDC)
- D.Perform a full load migration again
Why C: Configuring a DMS task with Change Data Capture (CDC) enables ongoing replication of changes from the source Oracle database to the target Aurora MySQL database with minimal downtime, ensuring consistency. Option A is incorrect because AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) only converts schema and does not handle data replication. Option B is incorrect because mysqldump provides a one-time export/import, not ongoing replication. Option D is incorrect because performing a full load migration again would disrupt operations and would not capture ongoing changes.
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.