DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 2 TB and has a high number of small transactions. The company needs to minimize downtime during the migration. Which TWO strategies should be used together? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse 'minimizing downtime' with 'zero downtime' and select Data Pump (A) because it is a familiar Oracle tool, failing to recognize that DMS with CDC is the only option that provides near-continuous replication and a short cutover window.
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 Database Migration Service (DMS) to perform a full load and ongoing replication.
AWS DMS with ongoing replication (CDC) is the correct choice because it allows a full load of the 2 TB database followed by continuous replication of changes, minimizing downtime by keeping the target RDS instance nearly synchronized with the source until cutover. This approach is specifically designed for large databases with high transaction volumes, as it reduces the final outage window to seconds or minutes.
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 Oracle Data Pump to export the database and import into RDS.
Why it's wrong here
Data Pump requires downtime during export/import and does not provide ongoing replication.
- ✗
Set up a VPN connection between on-premises and AWS for direct database link.
Why it's wrong here
A VPN provides connectivity but does not automate migration or reduce downtime.
- ✗
Create a manual snapshot of the RDS instance during the migration.
Why it's wrong here
Manual snapshots are for backup, not for migration from on-premises.
- ✓
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to perform a full load and ongoing replication.
Why this is correct
DMS can migrate data with minimal downtime by using continuous replication after the full load.
- ✓
Configure change data capture (CDC) on the source database and apply to RDS.
Why this is correct
DMS supports CDC to capture ongoing changes and apply them to the target, minimizing downtime.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DBS-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 1,663-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
6 more ways this is tested on DBS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 2 TB in size. The company wants to minimize downtime during the migration. Which AWS service should be used to perform an online migration with minimal downtime?
medium- A.AWS Direct Connect
- ✓ B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- C.AWS Snowball
- D.Amazon S3
Why B: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) supports ongoing replication to minimize downtime. Snowball is for offline data transfer. S3 is not a migration service. Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection but is not a migration service itself.
Variation 2. A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 500 GB and has a 4-hour downtime window. Which AWS service should be used to perform the migration with minimal downtime?
easy- ✓ A.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- B.Oracle Data Pump using Amazon RDS option groups
- C.AWS Snowball Edge
- D.Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why A: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports ongoing replication (change data capture) to minimize downtime during the migration. Oracle Data Pump is an export/import tool that requires downtime and cannot perform continuous replication. AWS Snowball Edge is for offline bulk data transfer, not suitable for a 4-hour window with minimal downtime. Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration only speeds up uploads to S3, not a database migration tool. Therefore, DMS is the recommended service for minimal downtime migration.
Variation 3. A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 2 TB in size and has a high transaction rate. The migration must have minimal downtime. Which migration strategy should a database specialist recommend?
hard- ✓ A.Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication to capture changes.
- B.Copy the data files to Amazon S3 and then load into RDS.
- C.Use Oracle Data Pump to export and import the database.
- D.Perform an RMAN backup and restore to RDS.
Why A: AWS DMS with ongoing replication allows for minimal downtime by continuously replicating changes from the source Oracle database to the target Amazon RDS for Oracle, allowing a cutover with only a brief pause. Option B is incorrect because copying data files to S3 and loading into RDS is not a supported migration path for RDS for Oracle and would require significant downtime. Option C is incorrect because Oracle Data Pump export and import requires the source database to be offline or in read-only mode during export, causing downtime. Option D is incorrect because RMAN backup and restore is not natively supported for RDS for Oracle and would involve complex manual steps and downtime.
Variation 4. A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 500 GB in size and has a 24/7 uptime requirement. The migration window is limited to 2 hours. Which strategy should be used to minimize downtime?
hard- A.Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to convert the schema and copy data
- B.Take an on-premises backup and restore to RDS using Oracle RMAN
- C.Export the database to a dump file and import into RDS
- ✓ D.Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication
Why D: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) can perform ongoing replication from the source Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle, allowing a minimal cutover window of under 2 hours. Option A is incorrect because AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) only converts schema and does not handle data migration. Option B is incorrect because performing an on-premises backup and restoring via Oracle RMAN would require significant downtime and may exceed the 2-hour window for a 500 GB database. Option C is incorrect because exporting to a dump file and importing into RDS requires the database to be offline or in read-only mode, causing prolonged downtime.
Variation 5. A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database size is 500 GB. The migration must have minimal downtime. Which AWS service should be used to perform the migration?
medium- A.AWS Snowball Edge
- ✓ B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- C.AWS DataSync
- D.Amazon RDS for Oracle snapshot copy
Why B: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is the correct choice because it supports heterogeneous migrations from Oracle to Amazon RDS for Oracle with minimal downtime. DMS can perform continuous replication using Oracle's change data capture (CDC) via LogMiner or binary reader, allowing the source database to remain operational during the migration. This makes it ideal for a 500 GB database where downtime must be minimized.
Variation 6. A company is migrating its on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 2 TB in size and has a 24-hour maintenance window. The company needs to minimize downtime during the migration. Which AWS service should be used to perform the migration with minimal downtime?
medium- ✓ A.AWS Database Migration Service
- B.Oracle Data Guard
- C.AWS Schema Conversion Tool (AWS SCT)
- D.AWS Data Pipeline
Why A: AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) can migrate the on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle with minimal downtime by using ongoing replication. Option B (Oracle Data Guard) is not supported for cross-environment replication to Amazon RDS. Option C (AWS Schema Conversion Tool) is used for schema conversion, not data migration. Option D (AWS Data Pipeline) is a data orchestration service unrelated to database migration.
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.