DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a 3 TB PostgreSQL database to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. The migration must have minimal downtime. Which THREE steps should be taken?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume offline methods like Snowball Edge are faster for large datasets, but the question explicitly requires minimal downtime, making continuous replication the only viable choice.
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 ongoing replication from the source PostgreSQL database
AWS DMS with ongoing replication (change data capture, CDC) allows continuous synchronization from the source PostgreSQL database to the target Aurora PostgreSQL cluster, enabling a cutover with minimal downtime. This is the standard approach for live migrations where the source remains fully operational during the transfer.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable autovacuum on the Aurora cluster to improve migration performance
Why it's wrong here
Autovacuum is important for performance; disabling it can cause issues.
- ✓
Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication from the source PostgreSQL database
Why this is correct
DMS with CDC enables near-zero downtime migration.
- ✗
Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the data offline
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is for large offline transfers, not for live migration with minimal downtime.
- ✓
Create an Aurora PostgreSQL read replica to offload read traffic during migration
Why this is correct
Read replicas can handle read traffic, reducing load on the source.
- ✓
Increase the instance class of the Aurora cluster to handle the migration load
Why this is correct
Larger instance class provides more resources for migration.
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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.