This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of database security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 has a production Amazon RDS for SQL Server database that stores financial data. The database administrator wants to audit all access to sensitive columns (e.g., credit card numbers) using the SQL Server Audit feature. The database is part of a Multi-AZ deployment. The administrator has enabled audit logging to the 'DEFAULT' file audit target, but the audit files are being written to the local instance storage and are not being retained after failover. The compliance team requires that audit logs be stored in Amazon S3 for at least 7 years. The administrator has set up an event subscription to send database events to an S3 bucket using AWS DMS, but the audit logs are not being captured. What should the administrator do to meet the compliance requirements?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a new SQL Server Audit target using the Amazon S3 option and configure the audit to write to an S3 bucket.
Option C is correct because Amazon RDS for SQL Server supports writing SQL Server Audit logs directly to an Amazon S3 bucket as an audit target. This is the only native method that persists audit logs beyond the instance lifecycle, ensuring they survive Multi-AZ failover and meet the 7-year retention requirement. The DEFAULT file target writes to ephemeral instance storage, which is lost on failover, and RDS event subscriptions or DMS cannot capture SQL Server Audit output.
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.
✗
Use RDS event subscriptions to send database audit logs to an S3 bucket.
Configure AWS DMS to continuously replicate the audit database to an S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
DMS is designed for data migration, not for capturing audit logs.
✓
Create a new SQL Server Audit target using the Amazon S3 option and configure the audit to write to an S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
RDS for SQL Server supports custom audit targets to S3, allowing persistent storage of audit logs.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable RDS Enhanced Monitoring and configure it to send logs to CloudWatch Logs.
Why it's wrong here
Enhanced Monitoring provides OS metrics, not SQL Server Audit logs.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse RDS event subscriptions (which send metadata events) with actual audit log delivery, or assume DMS can replicate arbitrary file output, when in fact only the native S3 audit target persists SQL Server Audit logs in a durable, compliant manner.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SQL Server Audit in RDS uses extended events to capture actions on sensitive columns. When you configure an audit target as 'S3', RDS automatically creates a bucket (or uses an existing one) and writes audit files in .sqlaudit format. The audit files are uploaded in near-real-time and persist independently of the RDS instance, making them durable across failovers and region outages. This feature is specific to RDS for SQL Server and is not available for other RDS engines.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Database Security — This question tests Database Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a new SQL Server Audit target using the Amazon S3 option and configure the audit to write to an S3 bucket. — Option C is correct because Amazon RDS for SQL Server supports writing SQL Server Audit logs directly to an Amazon S3 bucket as an audit target. This is the only native method that persists audit logs beyond the instance lifecycle, ensuring they survive Multi-AZ failover and meet the 7-year retention requirement. The DEFAULT file target writes to ephemeral instance storage, which is lost on failover, and RDS event subscriptions or DMS cannot capture SQL Server Audit output.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
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 DBS-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 DBS-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.