DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A developer is migrating a self-managed MongoDB database to Amazon DocumentDB. The database contains 500 GB of data. What is the most efficient method to perform the initial data load?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse file system snapshots (Option A) with database-native snapshots, or assume AWS DMS (Option C) is the universal migration tool, when in fact DocumentDB's MongoDB compatibility requires MongoDB-native tools for the most efficient and reliable initial load.
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 mongodump and mongorestore
Mongodump and mongorestore are the native MongoDB tools designed for logical backups and restores, and Amazon DocumentDB is wire-protocol compatible with MongoDB 3.6 and 4.0. This method efficiently exports the 500 GB dataset as BSON files and imports them directly into DocumentDB, preserving indexes and data types without the overhead of file-system-level differences.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Take a file system snapshot and restore to DocumentDB
Why it's wrong here
A file system snapshot captures the underlying block storage, not the MongoDB data format; DocumentDB requires data in BSON or JSON via its native import tools, so a snapshot is incompatible. This option is tempting because snapshots are commonly used for restoring self-managed databases to identical engines, which would work if migrating to another MongoDB instance.
- ✓
Use mongodump and mongorestore
Why this is correct
These native tools are efficient and compatible with DocumentDB.
- ✗
Use AWS DMS with full load
Why it's wrong here
DMS is less efficient for large initial loads and may require additional configuration.
- ✗
Use mongodump with --out and then import using mongoimport
Why it's wrong here
mongoimport is for importing data, but mongodump output is in BSON format, not suitable for mongoimport.
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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.