DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a 3 TB PostgreSQL database from on-premises to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. They need to minimize downtime and ensure that the migration is completed within a maintenance window. Which approach should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose pg_dump/pg_restore (Option C) because it is a familiar tool, but they overlook the requirement to minimize downtime, which CDC-based replication uniquely addresses.
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 AWS DMS with full load and ongoing replication (CDC)
AWS DMS with full load and ongoing replication (CDC) is the correct approach because it allows you to perform an initial full load of the 3 TB database while continuously capturing changes from the source PostgreSQL using logical replication (via the pglogical extension or native slot-based replication). This minimizes downtime by keeping the target Aurora PostgreSQL nearly synchronized, and you can switch over during a maintenance window with only a brief outage to apply any final lag.
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 AWS DMS with full load and ongoing replication (CDC)
Why this is correct
DMS with CDC supports minimal downtime by replicating changes.
- ✗
Use AWS SCT to convert the schema and then migrate data
Why it's wrong here
SCT only converts schema, not data.
- ✗
Use pg_dump to export the database and pg_restore to import into Aurora
Why it's wrong here
pg_dump/pg_restore requires downtime and is slow for large databases.
- ✗
Take a file system snapshot and restore to Aurora
Why it's wrong here
File system snapshots are not directly restorable to Aurora.
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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.