DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose AWS Snowball for large databases, mistakenly thinking physical transfer is faster, but they overlook that Snowball requires stopping writes to the source database during the export and shipping process, causing unacceptable downtime for a live 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 Database Migration Service (DMS)
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.
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 Data Pipeline
Why it's wrong here
Data Pipeline is not designed for live database migration.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
DMS supports continuous replication with minimal downtime.
- ✗
AWS Snowball
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is for offline data transfer, causing downtime.
- ✗
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
S3 is not a database migration service.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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