Question 1,189 of 1,663
DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A financial services company runs a critical PostgreSQL database on Amazon RDS. The database stores transaction records and requires point-in-time recovery (PITR) with a recovery window of 35 days. The database size is 500 GB and grows at 10 GB per day. The team wants to minimize storage costs while meeting the recovery SLA. Which backup strategy should they use?
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 automated backups with a retention period of 35 days
Amazon RDS automated backups provide point-in-time recovery within the retention period (up to 35 days) by storing daily snapshots and transaction logs, allowing recovery to any second. Option A is incorrect because manual snapshots every hour would be costly and provide less granular recovery compared to automated backups with transaction logs. Option C is incorrect because pg_dump to S3 only provides daily full backups, not point-in-time recovery to an arbitrary second. Option D is incorrect because AWS Backup cross-region copies are for disaster recovery, not for local PITR, and would incur additional costs.
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 manual snapshots every hour and retain for 35 days
Why it's wrong here
Manual snapshots do not provide PITR and are more expensive due to hourly full snapshots.
- ✓
Enable automated backups with a retention period of 35 days
Why this is correct
Automated backups provide PITR and are cost-effective; RDS manages log storage.
- ✗
Disable automated backups and use pg_dump to S3 daily
Why it's wrong here
pg_dump provides only point-in-time of the dump, not continuous recovery.
- ✗
Use AWS Backup to copy snapshots to another region daily
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region copies are for DR, not PITR within the same region.
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 |
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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