DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a 500 GB SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. The migration must minimize downtime and support ongoing replication. Which TWO AWS services should be used together?
⚠ Common exam trap
The DBS-C01 exam often tests the misconception that native backup and restore (Option C) is sufficient for minimal-downtime migrations, but it requires a full outage for the final restore, whereas DMS with ongoing replication allows near-zero downtime.
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
✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports ongoing replication (change data capture) from a source SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server with minimal downtime. DMS can perform a full load followed by continuous replication of changes, allowing the source to remain operational during migration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Lambda is for serverless compute, not needed for this migration.
- ✗
AWS Snowball Edge
Why it's wrong here
Snowball Edge is a physical data transfer appliance for offline bulk migration, but it cannot support ongoing replication or minimise downtime because it provides no continuous change-capture mechanism like the correct service’s log-based replication. It is tempting because Snowball Edge is a common choice for large initial seed loads (e.g., 500 GB) when network bandwidth is limited, and it would be correct if the requirement were a one-time offline transfer without ongoing synchronisation.
- ✗
AWS RDS SQL Server native backup and restore
Why it's wrong here
Native backup/restore is one-time, not ongoing replication.
- ✓
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
DMS supports ongoing replication with change data capture.
- ✓
AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)
Why this is correct
SCT helps convert schema and assess migration complexity.
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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.