DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A team is deploying a new Amazon Aurora MySQL database and needs to load 5 TB of data from an existing Amazon RDS for MySQL database with minimal downtime. The data is stored in InnoDB tables. Which approach is MOST efficient?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume AWS DMS is the best tool for all migrations, but for homogeneous MySQL-to-Aurora migrations with large datasets and minimal downtime, native binlog replication is more efficient because it avoids the overhead of DMS's change data capture (CDC) and schema conversion layers.
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 read replica from the RDS for MySQL instance using binlog replication
Creating an Aurora read replica from an RDS for MySQL instance using binlog replication allows the Aurora cluster to synchronize with the source database in near real-time. Once the replica lag reaches zero, you can promote the Aurora cluster to become the primary database, achieving minimal downtime. This approach leverages the native MySQL binlog replication, which is efficient for large datasets like 5 TB and avoids the overhead of exporting or snapshotting the entire database.
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 snapshot of the RDS for MySQL instance and restore to Aurora
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots are not directly restorable across different DB engines.
- ✗
Use AWS DMS with full load and ongoing replication
Why it's wrong here
While possible, DMS involves extra overhead and may not be as optimal as native replication.
- ✗
Use mysqldump to export the database and import into Aurora
Why it's wrong here
mysqldump is slow for large datasets and may cause prolonged downtime.
- ✓
Create an Aurora read replica from the RDS for MySQL instance using binlog replication
Why this is correct
This method minimizes downtime by replicating data continuously.
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