DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a 5 TB SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. The migration must be completed within 48 hours with minimal downtime. The network bandwidth between on-premises and AWS is 500 Mbps. What is the MOST efficient migration strategy?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume DMS alone can handle large migrations within tight timeframes, underestimating the network transfer time for the full load, and overlook Snowball as a physical transport solution for initial data seeding.
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 Snowball to transfer the full database to an RDS instance, then use AWS DMS for ongoing replication
A 5 TB database over 500 Mbps would take approximately 23 hours for the initial full load alone (5 TB * 8 / 500 Mbps = 80,000 seconds ≈ 22.2 hours), leaving insufficient time for ongoing replication within the 48-hour window. AWS Snowball provides a physical transfer of the full database, bypassing network constraints, and then AWS DMS can perform ongoing change data capture (CDC) replication to apply incremental changes with minimal downtime.
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 Snowball to transfer the full database to an RDS instance, then use AWS DMS for ongoing replication
Why this is correct
Snowball transfers data offline, avoiding network bandwidth limitations, then DMS handles ongoing changes.
- ✗
Upgrade network bandwidth to 10 Gbps using AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
May not be feasible within 48 hours and adds cost.
- ✗
Use AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) with ongoing replication
Why it's wrong here
Initial load of 5 TB at 500 Mbps would take over 22 hours, leaving little time for ongoing replication; possible but less efficient.
- ✗
Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (AWS SCT) to migrate the schema, then use bulk insert
Why it's wrong here
SCT does not handle data migration; bulk insert would require downtime.
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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.