Question 880 of 1,711
DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 5 TB in size and has a 1 Gbps network connection. The migration must be completed within 48 hours. Which service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates might choose Snowball Edge (option C) thinking 5 TB is too large for a 1 Gbps connection within 48 hours, but they overlook that the bandwidth is sufficient (5 TB at 1 Gbps takes ~11 hours), making an online migration via DMS the correct and more practical choice.
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 DMS is the correct choice because it is designed for migrating databases to AWS with minimal downtime, and it can handle a 5 TB Oracle database over a 1 Gbps network within 48 hours. DMS supports ongoing replication to keep the source and target in sync, and it can use Oracle-specific features like supplemental logging and change data capture (CDC) to reduce migration time. The 1 Gbps connection provides sufficient bandwidth to transfer 5 TB in under 12 hours at full utilization, leaving ample time for setup and validation.
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 DataSync.
Why it's wrong here
Designed for file data, not databases.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why it's wrong here
Used for faster uploads to S3, not direct migration to RDS.
- ✗
AWS Snowball Edge.
Why it's wrong here
Offline transfer adds shipping time, likely exceeding 48 hours.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS).
Why this is correct
Online migration over network, capable of migrating 5 TB within 48 hours.
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Same concept, more angles
3 more ways 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 data engineer needs to migrate an on-premises PostgreSQL database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The database is 2 TB and has a continuous stream of write operations. The migration should minimize downtime. Which AWS service should be used?
medium- A.AWS DataSync
- ✓ B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- C.AWS Snowball Edge
- D.AWS Glue
Why B: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports ongoing replication (change data capture) from an on-premises PostgreSQL source to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, enabling a near-zero downtime migration. DMS can handle the 2 TB dataset and continuous write stream by performing a full load followed by continuous replication of changes until the cutover. Other services lack the ability to perform live, transactional replication with minimal interruption.
Variation 2. A data engineer is migrating an on-premises PostgreSQL database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The database is 2 TB in size. The engineer needs to minimize downtime. Which AWS service should be used for the migration?
easy- A.AWS Data Pipeline
- ✓ B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- C.AWS Snowball
- D.Amazon S3
Why B: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports continuous replication (change data capture) from an on-premises PostgreSQL source to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, enabling near-zero downtime migration. DMS can handle a 2 TB database by using a large replication instance and tuning task settings, and it automatically converts the source schema to the target RDS engine.
Variation 3. A data engineer is migrating an on-premises PostgreSQL database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The database is 2 TB in size and has a tight migration window. Which migration approach minimizes downtime?
medium- A.Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with full load only.
- B.Use pg_dump to export the database and pg_restore to import into RDS.
- C.Create a read replica in RDS and promote it when ready.
- ✓ D.Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication to capture changes during migration.
Why D: AWS DMS with ongoing replication (change data capture, CDC) allows you to perform a full load of the existing data and then continuously replicate incremental changes from the source PostgreSQL database to the target RDS for PostgreSQL. This minimizes downtime because you can keep the source database fully operational during the migration and only switch applications over after the target is fully synchronized, resulting in a very short cutover window.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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