- A
Use the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster
Aurora cloning is fast and space-efficient, ideal for test environments.
- B
Create a new Aurora cluster from the latest snapshot of the production cluster
Why wrong: This incurs full storage costs and is less cost-effective than cloning.
- C
Create a read replica of the production cluster and promote it to a standalone cluster
Why wrong: This is not the intended use of read replicas and may cause performance impact.
- D
Create a new Aurora cluster and use a smaller DB instance class
Why wrong: Storage costs remain the same; cloning is more cost-effective.
Question 342 of 1,730
DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of deployment and migration. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is deploying a new Amazon Aurora MySQL database. The development team requires a separate database instance for testing that is a clone of the production database but does not require the same level of performance. What is the MOST cost-effective way to create this test database?
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 the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster
The Aurora cloning feature creates a copy of the production cluster that is both fast and storage-efficient, using copy-on-write technology. This clone can be created with a different (smaller) DB instance class than the source, meeting the requirement for lower performance at minimal cost, as no additional storage is provisioned until data is modified.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster
Why this is correct
Aurora cloning is fast and space-efficient, ideal for test environments.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create a new Aurora cluster from the latest snapshot of the production cluster
Why it's wrong here
This incurs full storage costs and is less cost-effective than cloning.
- ✗
Create a read replica of the production cluster and promote it to a standalone cluster
Why it's wrong here
This is not the intended use of read replicas and may cause performance impact.
- ✗
Create a new Aurora cluster and use a smaller DB instance class
Why it's wrong here
Storage costs remain the same; cloning is more cost-effective.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume creating a new cluster from a snapshot (Option B) is the standard way to create a test database, overlooking the fact that Aurora cloning provides a faster and more cost-effective alternative by sharing storage pages until writes occur.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Aurora cloning uses a copy-on-write mechanism at the storage layer, meaning the clone shares the same underlying storage pages as the source until a write occurs on either cluster. This allows creating a clone in minutes with no additional storage cost initially, and the clone can be scaled down to a smaller instance class independently. In real-world scenarios, this is ideal for dev/test environments where you need a near-instant copy without duplicating storage costs, and you can safely modify the clone without affecting production.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Deployment and Migration — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Deployment and Migration practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All DBS-C01 questions
1,730 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
DBS-C01 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related DBS-C01 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Workload-Specific Database Design practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to Workload-Specific Database Design.
Deployment and Migration practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to Deployment and Migration.
Management and Operations practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to Management and Operations.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to Monitoring and Troubleshooting.
Database Security practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to Database Security.
DBS-C01 fundamentals practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to DBS-C01 fundamentals.
DBS-C01 scenario practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to DBS-C01 scenario.
DBS-C01 troubleshooting practice questions
Practise DBS-C01 questions linked to DBS-C01 troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Start a free DBS-C01 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DBS-C01 question test?
Deployment and Migration — This question tests Deployment and Migration — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use the Aurora cloning feature to create a clone of the production cluster — The Aurora cloning feature creates a copy of the production cluster that is both fast and storage-efficient, using copy-on-write technology. This clone can be created with a different (smaller) DB instance class than the source, meeting the requirement for lower performance at minimal cost, as no additional storage is provisioned until data is modified.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
More DBS-C01 practice questions
- A company is deploying a new application on Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The security policy requires that all data be enc…
- Match each AWS service to its primary purpose.
- A financial services company runs a production Amazon Aurora MySQL database cluster (1 writer, 2 readers) in us-east-1.…
- A company is designing a database for a global e-commerce platform that requires low-latency reads and writes from multi…
- A security auditor reviews the output of a DynamoDB table description command as shown in the exhibit. Which statement a…
- A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database contains sensitive data tha…
Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.