DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer needs to back up an Amazon DynamoDB table daily. The backup must be restorable to a specific point in time within the last 24 hours. Which solution meets these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
⚠ Common exam trap
DEA-C01 often tests the misconception that DynamoDB Streams or on-demand backups provide point-in-time recovery, when only PITR offers continuous, second-level restore within the retention window.
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
✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) on the table.
DynamoDB point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups of your table data with a restore granularity of one second, allowing you to restore to any point within the last 35 days. It requires no manual intervention, thus offering the least operational overhead. Enabling PITR meets the requirement to restore to a specific point in time within the last 24 hours.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create an on-demand backup of the table every 24 hours.
Why it's wrong here
On-demand backups capture a single snapshot at execution time, so they cannot restore to a specific point in time between backups. It is tempting because it is a native, low-overhead backup mechanism, but point-in-time recovery is the feature that satisfies the 24-hour restore requirement.
- ✗
Use DynamoDB Streams to replicate data to another table.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB Streams captures item-level changes for event-driven processing, not backups, and cannot restore the table to an arbitrary point in time. It is tempting because streams replicate data continuously, but point-in-time recovery is the native feature providing per-second restore within 35 days with no operational overhead.
- ✓
Enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) on the table.
Why this is correct
Point-in-time recovery continuously backs up the table, enabling restore to any second within the last 35 days with no scripts or scheduling. This satisfies the 24-hour restore requirement and minimises operational overhead compared with on-demand backups or custom export pipelines.
- ✗
Export the table data to Amazon S3 every 6 hours using a Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
Exporting to Amazon S3 produces data files, not a restorable table state, and requires custom Lambda scheduling and restoration logic. It is tempting because S3 exports are cheap and durable, but point-in-time recovery restores the table directly to any second within the retention window with no operational overhead.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.