The answer is Amazon Redshift, as it is the most suitable AWS database service for migrating a large Oracle data warehouse because it is purpose-built for petabyte-scale analytics and natively supports materialized views and window functions, which directly reduces rework. While Redshift uses a different procedural language than Oracle, requiring stored procedures to be rewritten as SQL scripts, this trade-off is minimal compared to the effort of migrating to a non-warehouse engine like RDS or Aurora. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of workload-specific service selection—a common trap is choosing a general-purpose relational database that lacks Redshift’s columnar storage and MPP architecture. Remember the memory tip: “Redshift for the warehouse shift”—if the workload is analytical and large-scale, Redshift is the natural target, even if some procedural code must be refactored.
DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of workload-specific database design. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is migrating a large Oracle Data Warehouse (10 TB) to Amazon Redshift. The current system uses complex stored procedures, materialized views, and window functions. The company wants to minimize migration effort. Which approach is MOST suitable?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Migrate to Amazon Redshift and rewrite stored procedures as SQL scripts.
Option B is correct because Amazon Redshift is purpose-built for large-scale data warehousing and analytics, making it the natural target for a 10 TB Oracle Data Warehouse. While stored procedures would need to be rewritten as SQL scripts (since Redshift uses a different procedural language), materialized views and window functions are natively supported, minimizing migration effort compared to other options.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Migrate to Amazon Aurora MySQL and use its parallel query feature.
Why it's wrong here
Aurora is OLTP, not optimized for large-scale analytics.
✓
Migrate to Amazon Redshift and rewrite stored procedures as SQL scripts.
Why this is correct
Redshift supports window functions, materialized views, and SQL scripting.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Migrate to Amazon DynamoDB and use DAX for caching.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is NoSQL, not suitable for complex SQL analytics.
✗
Migrate to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and use its foreign data wrappers.
Why it's wrong here
PostgreSQL may not handle 10 TB analytical workload as efficiently as Redshift.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may assume all cloud databases are equally suitable for data warehousing, overlooking that Redshift's columnar storage and MPP architecture are specifically designed for analytical workloads, while options like Aurora or DynamoDB are optimized for different use cases (OLTP or NoSQL).
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon Redshift uses a columnar storage format and MPP architecture, distributing data across compute nodes to parallelize queries, which is critical for 10 TB datasets. Its support for materialized views allows pre-computation of complex aggregations, and window functions (e.g., ROW_NUMBER, RANK) are fully compatible with Oracle syntax, reducing rewrite effort. However, stored procedures must be converted from Oracle PL/SQL to Redshift's SQL-based procedural language (e.g., using blocks with $$), which is a straightforward but necessary step.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Workload-Specific Database Design — This question tests Workload-Specific Database Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Migrate to Amazon Redshift and rewrite stored procedures as SQL scripts. — Option B is correct because Amazon Redshift is purpose-built for large-scale data warehousing and analytics, making it the natural target for a 10 TB Oracle Data Warehouse. While stored procedures would need to be rewritten as SQL scripts (since Redshift uses a different procedural language), materialized views and window functions are natively supported, minimizing migration effort compared to other options.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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