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Deployment and Migration →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question

This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of deployment and migration. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 running a production PostgreSQL database on an EC2 instance (db.m5.xlarge) with 500 GB of gp2 EBS storage. The database is used by a customer-facing application that requires low latency. The company plans to migrate this database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with minimal downtime. The current database has a high write load with frequent updates and deletes, and the table sizes are growing. The company also wants to enable Multi-AZ for high availability and use read replicas for reporting workloads. During migration planning, they discover that the source database has several large unlogged tables and uses custom PostgreSQL extensions that are not available in RDS. Which migration strategy should the company use to minimize downtime and meet all requirements?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

A
Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication, convert unlogged tables to logged tables, and migrate custom extensions using AWS SCT.
DMS can handle unlogged tables by replicating data as regular tables, and SCT can suggest alternatives for unsupported extensions.
B
Use pg_dump to export the database and pg_restore to import into RDS, then set up read replicas.
Why wrong: This is an offline method and would cause significant downtime for a production database.
C
Copy the database files to Amazon S3, then use the rdsadmin.rdsadmin_restore_from_s3 procedure to restore to RDS.
Why wrong: RDS for PostgreSQL does not support restoring from S3.
D
Set up PostgreSQL streaming replication from the EC2 instance to an RDS read replica, then promote the replica.
Why wrong: Streaming replication requires logical replication, and unlogged tables are not replicated.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 AWS DMS with ongoing replication, convert unlogged tables to logged tables, and migrate custom extensions using AWS SCT.

Option A is correct. AWS DMS with ongoing replication allows near-zero downtime by continuously replicating changes from the source to the target RDS instance. DMS can handle unlogged tables by converting them to logged tables during migration, as DMS requires logical replication which relies on write-ahead logs. AWS SCT can help assess and convert custom PostgreSQL extensions to RDS-compatible equivalents or suggest alternatives. Option B (pg_dump/pg_restore) is an offline approach that would cause significant downtime, which does not meet the minimal downtime requirement. Option C (copy to S3 then restore) is not a supported migration method for PostgreSQL to RDS. Option D (streaming replication) is not feasible because RDS does not accept direct streaming replication from an external source, and unlogged tables cannot be replicated via streaming. Therefore, A is the best strategy.

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 AWS DMS with ongoing replication, convert unlogged tables to logged tables, and migrate custom extensions using AWS SCT.
Why this is correct
DMS can handle unlogged tables by replicating data as regular tables, and SCT can suggest alternatives for unsupported extensions.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use pg_dump to export the database and pg_restore to import into RDS, then set up read replicas.
Why it's wrong here
This is an offline method and would cause significant downtime for a production database.
✗
Copy the database files to Amazon S3, then use the rdsadmin.rdsadmin_restore_from_s3 procedure to restore to RDS.
Why it's wrong here
RDS for PostgreSQL does not support restoring from S3.
✗
Set up PostgreSQL streaming replication from the EC2 instance to an RDS read replica, then promote the replica.
Why it's wrong here
Streaming replication requires logical replication, and unlogged tables are not replicated.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

Underline the problem statement mentally.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

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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 AWS DMS with ongoing replication, convert unlogged tables to logged tables, and migrate custom extensions using AWS SCT. — Option A is correct. AWS DMS with ongoing replication allows near-zero downtime by continuously replicating changes from the source to the target RDS instance. DMS can handle unlogged tables by converting them to logged tables during migration, as DMS requires logical replication which relies on write-ahead logs. AWS SCT can help assess and convert custom PostgreSQL extensions to RDS-compatible equivalents or suggest alternatives. Option B (pg_dump/pg_restore) is an offline approach that would cause significant downtime, which does not meet the minimal downtime requirement. Option C (copy to S3 then restore) is not a supported migration method for PostgreSQL to RDS. Option D (streaming replication) is not feasible because RDS does not accept direct streaming replication from an external source, and unlogged tables cannot be replicated via streaming. Therefore, A is the best strategy.

What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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