DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A database administrator needs to monitor Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL connections and terminate idle connections that have been open for more than 1 hour. Which combination of steps should be taken?
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
✓
Enable audit logging and stream to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. Create a metric filter for connection events. Use CloudWatch Alarm to trigger a Lambda function that runs a SQL query to terminate idle connections.
The correct approach is Option C. Enable audit logging (e.g., using the pgaudit extension) and stream logs to CloudWatch Logs. Create a metric filter to identify connections idle for over 1 hour based on log patterns. Set a CloudWatch Alarm to invoke an AWS Lambda function, which executes a SQL query like pg_terminate_backend(pid) to terminate idle connections. Option A: Performance Insights provides metrics but no automated termination. Option B: RDS event subscriptions do not include idle connection details. Option D: Enhanced Monitoring provides OS-level metrics, not connection idle time.
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 Amazon RDS Performance Insights to view active connections and manually terminate idle connections via the AWS Management Console.
Why it's wrong here
Manual intervention is not automated.
- ✗
Configure an RDS event subscription for 'connection' events and send to Amazon SNS. Use SNS to notify an EC2 instance that runs a script to terminate idle connections.
Why it's wrong here
RDS events do not include connection-level details.
- ✓
Enable audit logging and stream to Amazon CloudWatch Logs. Create a metric filter for connection events. Use CloudWatch Alarm to trigger a Lambda function that runs a SQL query to terminate idle connections.
Why this is correct
Audit logs capture connection events; metric filter and Lambda automate termination.
- ✗
Enable RDS Enhanced Monitoring and configure a CloudWatch alarm to invoke an AWS Lambda function that terminates idle connections.
Why it's wrong here
Enhanced Monitoring shows OS metrics, not connection details.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.