Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Backup, the fully managed service designed to centralize and automate backup scheduling across AWS services, including Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. AWS Backup eliminates the need for custom scripts by providing a policy-driven approach to define backup plans, retention rules, and lifecycle management, ensuring consistent, automated RDS PostgreSQL backups without manual intervention. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-01 exam, this question tests your understanding of managed backup solutions versus ad-hoc alternatives—a common trap is confusing AWS Backup with Lambda-based automation, but the exam emphasizes choosing the primary, purpose-built service over custom code. Remember the mnemonic "BURP": Backup, Unified, Retention, Policy—AWS Backup unifies all these aspects for RDS.
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations and support. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A data engineer needs to automate the backup of an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. Which AWS service can be used to schedule and manage the backups?
Amazon S3
Why wrong: S3 is storage, not a backup scheduler.
AWS Lambda
Why wrong: Lambda can be used to script backups but is not the dedicated backup service.
AWS Backup
AWS Backup provides centralized backup management for RDS.
Amazon CloudWatch
Why wrong: CloudWatch monitors metrics and logs, not backup scheduling.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Backup
AWS Backup is a fully managed backup service that can automate backups of RDS databases. Option B is wrong because CloudWatch is for monitoring. Option C is wrong because S3 is storage. Option D is wrong because Lambda can be used but is not the primary managed service for backup scheduling.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
S3 is storage, not a backup scheduler.
AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Lambda can be used to script backups but is not the dedicated backup service.
AWS Backup
Why this is correct
AWS Backup provides centralized backup management for RDS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon CloudWatch
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch monitors metrics and logs, not backup scheduling.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Backup — AWS Backup is a fully managed backup service that can automate backups of RDS databases. Option B is wrong because CloudWatch is for monitoring. Option C is wrong because S3 is storage. Option D is wrong because Lambda can be used but is not the primary managed service for backup scheduling.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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