DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A data engineer needs to ingest data from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon S3 daily. The data volume is 500 GB per day, and the network bandwidth is 200 Mbps. The requirement is to minimize the impact on the source database and ensure data integrity. Which combination of AWS services should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume AWS Glue or Data Pipeline are suitable for database ingestion, but they lack the CDC and low-impact features of DMS, which is specifically designed for minimal source database load during large-scale migrations or replication.
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 S3 as target
AWS DMS with S3 as target is correct because it supports continuous change data capture (CDC) from Oracle, minimizing impact on the source database by reading redo logs instead of querying tables directly. It can handle 500 GB/day over 200 Mbps (which yields ~2.16 TB/day theoretical max) and ensures data integrity via transactional consistency and validation checksums. DMS also automatically partitions large datasets and can resume from failures, making it ideal for daily bulk loads.
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 S3 as target
Why this is correct
AWS DMS minimizes source impact by using change data capture and supports S3 as a target.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL jobs with JDBC connection
Why it's wrong here
AWS Glue can read from Oracle but may cause significant load on the source during full table scans.
- ✗
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose with Oracle as source
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis Data Firehose cannot directly connect to Oracle as a source.
- ✗
AWS Data Pipeline with SQLActivity
Why it's wrong here
Data Pipeline’s SQLActivity executes queries directly against the source database, which would place repeated read load on the on-premises Oracle instance during each daily 500 GB extraction, violating the requirement to minimise impact on the source. This option is tempting because Data Pipeline can orchestrate scheduled data transfers to S3, and in scenarios where source impact is not a primary concern—such as moving smaller, non-production datasets—its direct SQL extraction is a straightforward choice.
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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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A data engineer needs to ingest data from an on-premises Oracle database into Amazon S3. The data volume is about 500 GB initially, with daily incremental updates of 10 GB. The pipeline must minimize operational overhead. Which AWS service should be used for the initial and incremental loads?
easy- ✓ A.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with change data capture (CDC) to Amazon S3.
- B.AWS Glue with a JDBC connection and incremental crawl.
- C.Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose with a custom producer.
- D.AWS Data Pipeline with a SQL activity and HiveCopyActivity.
Why A: AWS DMS with CDC is the correct choice because it supports continuous replication from Oracle to Amazon S3 with minimal overhead. It handles both the initial 500 GB full load and ongoing 10 GB daily increments via change data capture, without requiring custom code or complex pipeline management.
Variation 2. A data engineer needs to ingest data from an on-premises Oracle database into Amazon S3 on a nightly basis. The data volume is approximately 10 GB per night. The database is accessible over the internet. Which AWS service is MOST appropriate for this task?
easy- ✓ A.AWS Glue ETL job with a JDBC connection
- B.AWS DataSync
- C.AWS Transfer Family
- D.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
Why A: The most appropriate AWS service among the given options for nightly batch ingestion from an on-premises Oracle database into Amazon S3 is AWS Glue ETL job with a JDBC connection (A). AWS Glue can connect to the Oracle database via JDBC, extract data, and load it into S3 in a scheduled batch manner. While AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is purpose-built for database migrations and would be the ideal service, it is not listed as an option. AWS DataSync (B) is used for file and object storage transfers, not for database connections. AWS Transfer Family (C) provides managed file transfer protocols and cannot directly query databases. Amazon Kinesis Data Streams (D) is designed for real-time streaming data ingestion, not nightly batch loads. Therefore, AWS Glue is the correct choice.
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.