DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A developer accidentally deleted a table in an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance. The instance has automated backups enabled with a retention period of 7 days. The deletion occurred 2 hours ago. What is the quickest way to recover the table?
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
✓
Perform a point-in-time recovery to a time just before the deletion.
Point-in-time recovery (PITR) allows restoring the RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance to any time within the 7-day backup retention period. Since the deletion occurred 2 hours ago, you can restore the instance to a time just before the deletion, then connect to the restored instance and extract the deleted table using pg_dump or similar tools. This is the quickest method because it does not require restoring a full snapshot and then applying transaction logs manually. Option B is incorrect because pg_dump cannot export a table that has already been deleted from the current instance. Option C is incorrect because automated backup files are not directly accessible as downloadable files from S3; they are used internally by RDS for PITR. Option D is incorrect because restoring from the latest automated snapshot would not recover the table if the snapshot was taken after the deletion, or if the snapshot includes the deletion state.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Perform a point-in-time recovery to a time just before the deletion.
Why this is correct
Point-in-time recovery uses transaction logs to restore to any time within the retention period.
- ✗
Use PostgreSQL pg_dump to connect and dump the table from the current instance.
Why it's wrong here
The table is already deleted, so pg_dump cannot retrieve it.
- ✗
Download the automated backup file from S3 and restore the table.
Why it's wrong here
Automated backups are not directly accessible; they are used for point-in-time recovery.
- ✗
Restore the DB instance from the latest automated snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
The latest snapshot might have been taken after the deletion, so the table would be missing.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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