The correct answer involves enabling exactly-once semantics in MirrorMaker 2, setting replication.factor for topics, and configuring offsets.topic.replication.factor for consumer offsets. These three settings work together to guarantee that each message is replicated exactly once from on-premises Kafka to Amazon MSK, preventing duplicates or gaps during the migration. Enabling exactly-once semantics in MirrorMaker 2 uses transactional writes to ensure atomicity, while replication.factor (typically set to 3 in MSK) provides data durability, and offsets.topic.replication.factor preserves consumer group progress across the cluster. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to achieve exactly-once migration configuration without data loss, often appearing as a multi-select question where you must distinguish required settings from optional ones like SSL or auto topic creation. A common trap is confusing high availability settings with exactly-once guarantees. Remember the mnemonic "ROE" for Replication factor, Offsets replication, and Exactly-once semantics to lock in the three required choices.
DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company is migrating on-premises Apache Kafka clusters to Amazon MSK. The migration must be seamless with no data loss. The team is using MirrorMaker 2 to replicate data from on-premises Kafka to MSK. Which THREE configurations are necessary to ensure exactly-once semantics and minimal downtime? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set offsets.topic.replication.factor to 3 for the consumer offsets topic.
A is correct because enabling replication.factor ensures data durability in MSK. C is correct because enabling exactly-once semantics in MirrorMaker prevents duplicates. E is correct because setting offsets.topic.replication.factor ensures consumer offsets are replicated. B is wrong because auto.create.topics.enable should be true to allow topic creation. D is wrong because SSL is optional and not required for exactly-once.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Set auto.create.topics.enable to false to prevent automatic topic creation.
Why it's wrong here
Should be true to allow MirrorMaker to create topics.
✓
Set offsets.topic.replication.factor to 3 for the consumer offsets topic.
Why this is correct
Ensures offset data is durable and replicated.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Set replication.factor to 3 on the MSK cluster.
Why this is correct
Ensures data durability and fault tolerance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable TLS encryption between on-premises and MSK.
Why it's wrong here
Security is important but not required for exactly-once.
✓
Configure MirrorMaker 2 to use exactly-once semantics.
Why this is correct
Prevents duplicate messages during replication.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
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
How to think about this question
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.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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.
Data Ingestion and Transformation — This question tests Data Ingestion and Transformation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set offsets.topic.replication.factor to 3 for the consumer offsets topic. — A is correct because enabling replication.factor ensures data durability in MSK. C is correct because enabling exactly-once semantics in MirrorMaker prevents duplicates. E is correct because setting offsets.topic.replication.factor ensures consumer offsets are replicated. B is wrong because auto.create.topics.enable should be true to allow topic creation. D is wrong because SSL is optional and not required for exactly-once.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.