DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company is designing a disaster recovery strategy for an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. The database is 2 TB in size. The company wants to recover to a different AWS Region with minimal data loss. Which TWO options meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume that copying automated backups cross-Region includes transaction logs, enabling point-in-time recovery. However, RDS automated snapshot copies only transfer the full snapshot, not the transaction logs, so recovery is limited to the snapshot time with up to 24 hours of data loss.
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
✓
Create a read replica in the other Region.
Both A and B are valid options for achieving minimal data loss when recovering to a different AWS Region. Option A uses Amazon RDS native cross-Region read replicas with PostgreSQL streaming replication, providing near real-time synchronization. Option B uses AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication (change data capture) to replicate changes continuously, achieving a low RPO. Options C, D, and E involve snapshot-based solutions that are not continuous and therefore do not meet the minimal data loss requirement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a read replica in the other Region.
Why this is correct
Correct. A cross-Region read replica uses streaming replication to maintain near-synchronous data in the other Region, providing an RPO of seconds to minutes.
- ✓
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication to a target in the other Region.
Why this is correct
Incorrect. AWS DMS with ongoing replication can achieve low RPO but is not native to RDS and may add overhead; however, the primary correct answer is A, and no other option provides minimal data loss.
- ✗
Take a manual snapshot and copy it to the other Region. Restore from the snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Manual snapshots are taken at a point in time; copying and restoring them results in an RPO equal to the time between snapshots, not minimal.
- ✗
Enable automatic backups and copy automated snapshots to the other Region.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Cross-Region copy of automated snapshots does not include transaction logs, so point-in-time recovery is unavailable. The RPO is up to 24 hours, not minimal.
- ✗
Use AWS Backup to schedule cross-Region backups.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS Backup cross-Region copies are similar to automated snapshot copies; they do not provide point-in-time recovery in the destination Region, so RPO is not minimal.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,663 original DBS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.