DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company wants to migrate a 2 TB Amazon RDS for MySQL DB instance to Amazon Aurora MySQL. The migration must have zero downtime and must be reversible for 48 hours. Which strategy meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume AWS DMS with CDC is the only zero-downtime option, but they overlook the reversibility requirement, which is better met by the native RDS-to-Aurora replica feature that keeps the source intact.
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
✓
Create an Aurora MySQL Read Replica from the RDS MySQL instance, then promote the replica to a standalone Aurora cluster.
Creating an Aurora MySQL Read Replica from an RDS MySQL instance uses MySQL's native asynchronous replication to keep the Aurora cluster in sync with the source, allowing a near-zero-downtime cutover by promoting the replica. The migration is fully reversible within 48 hours because the original RDS instance remains unchanged and can continue serving traffic if the promotion is rolled back.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create an Aurora MySQL Read Replica from the RDS MySQL instance, then promote the replica to a standalone Aurora cluster.
Why this is correct
Read replica creation is online, promotion is fast. Fallback by deleting Aurora cluster within 48 hours.
- ✗
Take a snapshot of the RDS MySQL instance, restore it to Aurora MySQL, and update the DNS.
Why it's wrong here
Snapshot restore is irreversible and may cause downtime.
- ✗
Export the database using mysqldump, import into Aurora, and switch DNS.
Why it's wrong here
mysqldump causes downtime.
- ✗
Use AWS DMS with ongoing change data capture (CDC) to migrate to Aurora.
Why it's wrong here
DMS may have a brief cutover 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.