DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A data engineer needs to design a data ingestion pipeline that captures change data capture (CDC) events from an on-premises SQL Server database to Amazon S3 with low latency. The pipeline must handle schema changes and ensure exactly-once delivery semantics. Which combination of AWS services should the engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume AWS Glue or Kinesis Data Streams are the default for real-time CDC, but they overlook DMS's native CDC support for on-premises databases and its seamless integration with Firehose for exactly-once delivery.
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 Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to Amazon S3
AWS DMS can capture ongoing changes from SQL Server using its CDC capability and stream them directly into Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose, which buffers and delivers data to Amazon S3 with low latency. DMS handles schema changes by propagating them to the target, and Kinesis Data Firehose, combined with DMS's transactional integrity, supports exactly-once delivery semantics when configured with a primary key and appropriate error handling.
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 Database Migration Service (DMS) with Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to Amazon S3
Why this is correct
DMS captures CDC, Firehose delivers to S3 with low latency and supports partitioning.
- ✗
AWS AppFlow with SQL Server connector to Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
AppFlow is for SaaS apps, not on-premises databases.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL job with JDBC connection to SQL Server and writing to Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Glue is batch-oriented, not suitable for low-latency CDC.
- ✗
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams with AWS Lambda consumer writing to Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Requires custom CDC connector; not natively supported for SQL Server.
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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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.