DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A data engineer needs to ingest data from a relational database (MySQL) into Amazon S3 for analytics. The database is 500 GB and the job must run daily with incremental updates. Which AWS service is BEST suited for this task?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose AWS Glue ETL (Option D) because it is familiar for data transformation, but they overlook that Glue lacks native incremental replication from databases, whereas DMS is purpose-built for this exact scenario with minimal overhead.
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 a replication task.
AWS DMS with a replication task is the best choice because it is specifically designed for continuous, incremental data replication from relational databases like MySQL to Amazon S3. DMS supports ongoing replication (change data capture) to capture incremental changes without custom scripting, and it can handle the initial 500 GB load efficiently. Other services either lack native incremental support or require additional configuration for this use case.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon EMR with Apache Sqoop.
Why it's wrong here
While Amazon EMR with Apache Sqoop can transfer bulk data from MySQL to HDFS, it lacks native support for incremental change data capture (CDC) from MySQL to Amazon S3 without additional custom scripting or third-party connectors. The 500 GB daily increment requirement demands a managed CDC pipeline, which AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) provides natively. This option is tempting because Sqoop is a well-known tool for batch Hadoop imports, and it would be correct if the target were HDFS on EMR rather than S3, or if full-table exports sufficed.
- ✗
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose with a database source.
Why it's wrong here
Firehose does not directly connect to databases.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with a replication task.
Why this is correct
DMS supports continuous replication and can write to S3.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL job with a JDBC connection.
Why it's wrong here
A JDBC connection in an AWS Glue ETL job lacks native change data capture (CDC) capabilities, so it would require a full table scan each run to identify new or modified rows, making incremental daily ingestion of a 500 GB database inefficient and costly. This option is tempting because Glue ETL is designed for general-purpose data transformation and can connect to JDBC sources, so it would be correct for a one-time bulk load or a scenario where the source supports CDC via a separate mechanism like Debezium.
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.