DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of deployment and migration. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A database administrator has this IAM policy attached to their user. They attempt to delete the database instance 'prod-mydb' but receive an 'AccessDenied' error. Why?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The Deny statement explicitly denies deletion of any instance with an identifier starting with 'prod-'.
Option D is correct because the IAM policy includes an explicit Deny statement that denies the rds:DeleteDBInstance action when the resource ARN contains an instance identifier starting with 'prod-'. Explicit Deny statements override any Allow statements, so even if another policy allows deletion, this Deny blocks it for instances like 'prod-mydb'.
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.
✗
The policy does not allow the rds:DeleteDBInstance action for any resource.
Why it's wrong here
The policy allows DeleteDBInstance on all resources, but then denies it for prod-*.
✗
The resource ARN in the Deny statement does not match the instance.
Why it's wrong here
The ARN matches: db:prod-* covers prod-mydb.
✗
The user does not have permission to describe the DB instance.
Why it's wrong here
The user has DescribeDBInstances permission.
✓
The Deny statement explicitly denies deletion of any instance with an identifier starting with 'prod-'.
Why this is correct
The Deny statement overrides the Allow, preventing deletion of prod instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often overlook the explicit Deny statement and focus only on the Allow statement, assuming the user has permission because the action is allowed for some resources, but they miss that the Deny specifically blocks the targeted instance identifier pattern.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAM policy evaluation logic follows an explicit Deny override: if any policy attached to the user contains a Deny statement that matches the action and resource, the request is denied regardless of any Allow statements. The resource ARN pattern 'arn:aws:rds:*:*:db:prod-*' uses a wildcard to match any DB instance identifier starting with 'prod-', which is a common pattern for enforcing naming conventions or protecting production resources.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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 — 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: The Deny statement explicitly denies deletion of any instance with an identifier starting with 'prod-'. — Option D is correct because the IAM policy includes an explicit Deny statement that denies the rds:DeleteDBInstance action when the resource ARN contains an instance identifier starting with 'prod-'. Explicit Deny statements override any Allow statements, so even if another policy allows deletion, this Deny blocks it for instances like 'prod-mydb'.
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.
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Question Discussion
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