DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a 5 TB MongoDB database to Amazon DocumentDB. They have a short maintenance window and need to minimize downtime. Which migration strategy should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume MongoDB change streams are a universal replication mechanism, but DocumentDB does not support consuming them as a target, and AWS DMS is the only fully managed service that provides both full load and ongoing replication for this specific source-target pair.
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 to perform a full load and then ongoing replication from the source MongoDB.
AWS DMS supports MongoDB as a source and Amazon DocumentDB as a target, enabling a full load of the 5 TB database followed by ongoing change data capture (CDC) using MongoDB's oplog. This minimizes downtime by keeping the target nearly synchronized during the migration window, allowing a final cutover with minimal interruption.
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 to perform a full load and then ongoing replication from the source MongoDB.
Why this is correct
DMS supports MongoDB as source and DocumentDB as target with ongoing replication.
- ✗
Use the MongoDB change streams feature to replicate changes to DocumentDB in real time.
Why it's wrong here
MongoDB change streams are designed to capture real-time data modifications, making them suitable for continuous synchronisation or event-driven architectures. However, they do not facilitate the initial bulk transfer of a 5 TB existing database. This option fails to address the fundamental requirement of moving the historical data, which would necessitate a separate, potentially lengthy, initial data load phase, thereby failing to minimise downtime for the entire migration. Change streams would be an excellent choice for maintaining synchronisation *after* an initial data transfer.
- ✗
Set up AWS Direct Connect to the source and use mongorestore directly to DocumentDB.
Why it's wrong here
Still requires downtime; Direct Connect just speeds network.
- ✗
Export the data using mongodump, transfer to Amazon S3, and import using mongorestore.
Why it's wrong here
Requires significant downtime during dump and restore.
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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.