DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is tasked with setting up a data pipeline that moves data from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon S3 every hour. The network bandwidth is limited, and the engineer needs to ensure data consistency. Which AWS service should the engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse AWS DataSync (a file-transfer service) with database replication, or assume S3 Transfer Acceleration can solve bandwidth issues without addressing the need for change data capture and consistency from a live database.
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) with change data capture (CDC).
AWS DMS with CDC is the correct choice because it can continuously replicate ongoing changes from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon S3 while ensuring data consistency. CDC captures only the incremental changes (inserts, updates, deletes) after an initial full load, minimizing the data transferred over limited bandwidth and maintaining transactional integrity.
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
AWS DataSync performs bulk file and object transfers on a schedule, not continuous change data capture from Oracle, so consistency across hourly deltas is not guaranteed. It suits one-off or batch migrations of file systems and S3 buckets.
- ✗
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose.
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis Data Firehose ingests streaming records into destinations like S3, but it cannot read Oracle tables or perform change data capture, so consistency is unmet. It suits streaming application or log data, not scheduled database extraction.
- ✗
S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds uploads to S3 over AWS edge locations but does nothing to extract data from Oracle or maintain consistency. It is the right choice for accelerating large uploads to S3 from distant clients, not for database replication.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with change data capture (CDC).
Why this is correct
DMS with change data capture replicates only incremental changes after the initial full load, sharply reducing bandwidth consumption on the constrained link. CDC also maintains transactional consistency between the Oracle source and Amazon S3, satisfying the hourly consistency requirement.
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
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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.