DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
Which THREE factors should be considered when choosing between Amazon RDS and Amazon DynamoDB for a new application? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume encryption at rest or multi-AZ HA are exclusive to one service, but both RDS and DynamoDB fully support these features, making them irrelevant for choosing between the two.
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
✓
The query patterns and access methods required by the application.
The choice between Amazon RDS (relational) and DynamoDB (NoSQL) hinges on the application's data access patterns. RDS supports complex SQL queries with joins, aggregations, and secondary indexes, while DynamoDB is optimized for key-value and document queries with predictable, low-latency access patterns. If the application requires flexible querying with ad-hoc filters, RDS is appropriate; if it needs high-throughput, single-key lookups or simple query patterns, DynamoDB is better suited.
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 requirement for encryption at rest.
Why it's wrong here
Both services support encryption at rest.
- ✗
The need for multi-AZ high availability.
Why it's wrong here
Both services support multi-AZ deployments.
- ✓
The query patterns and access methods required by the application.
Why this is correct
RDS supports SQL queries, while DynamoDB is NoSQL with key-value and document queries.
- ✓
The need for complex transactions and joins.
Why this is correct
RDS supports complex transactions and joins; DynamoDB has limited transaction support.
- ✓
The expected scalability and throughput requirements.
Why this is correct
DynamoDB is designed for horizontal scaling; RDS scales vertically and with read replicas.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.