DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is deploying a new Amazon Aurora MySQL database. The development team requires a separate database instance for testing that is a clone of the production database but does not require the same level of performance. What is the MOST cost-effective way to create this test database?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume creating a new cluster from a snapshot (Option B) is the standard way to create a test database, overlooking the fact that Aurora cloning provides a faster and more cost-effective alternative by sharing storage pages until writes occur.
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
✓
Use the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster
The Aurora cloning feature creates a copy of the production cluster that is both fast and storage-efficient, using copy-on-write technology. This clone can be created with a different (smaller) DB instance class than the source, meeting the requirement for lower performance at minimal cost, as no additional storage is provisioned until data is modified.
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 the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster
Why this is correct
Aurora cloning is fast and space-efficient, ideal for test environments.
- ✗
Create a new Aurora cluster from the latest snapshot of the production cluster
Why it's wrong here
This incurs full storage costs and is less cost-effective than cloning.
- ✗
Create a read replica of the production cluster and promote it to a standalone cluster
Why it's wrong here
This is not the intended use of read replicas and may cause performance impact.
- ✗
Create a new Aurora cluster and use a smaller DB instance class
Why it's wrong here
Storage costs remain the same; cloning is more cost-effective.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.