This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 developer is tasked with encrypting data at rest for an Amazon RDS for MySQL database. The developer wants to use AWS KMS for key management. Which TWO configurations are valid? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a customer managed KMS key and specify it when creating the DB instance.
Option A is correct because you can create a customer managed KMS key and specify it when creating the DB instance. Amazon RDS for MySQL supports encryption at rest using AWS KMS, and you can choose a customer managed key at launch time. This key is used to encrypt the DB instance's storage, automated backups, read replicas, and snapshots.
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.
✓
Create a customer managed KMS key and specify it when creating the DB instance.
Why this is correct
Customer managed keys are supported.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable encryption after the DB instance is created by modifying the DB instance.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption must be enabled at creation time.
✓
Enable encryption using the default AWS managed key for RDS.
Why this is correct
The default key is an AWS managed key that can be used.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use S3 server-side encryption (SSE-S3) with the RDS instance.
Why it's wrong here
RDS does not use S3 encryption.
✗
Use an AWS owned KMS key for encryption.
Why it's wrong here
AWS owned keys are not used for RDS encryption; the default is AWS managed.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think encryption can be toggled on after creation (Option B) or that AWS owned keys are a valid choice for RDS (Option E), but AWS explicitly requires encryption to be set at launch and only supports AWS managed or customer managed keys for RDS.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When you enable encryption on an RDS DB instance, the KMS key is used to encrypt the underlying EBS volumes and the database engine's storage. The encryption is transparent to the database engine and is handled at the storage layer using AES-256. A subtle behavior is that encrypted read replicas must use the same KMS key as the source DB instance, and you cannot encrypt an unencrypted DB instance after creation—you must restore a snapshot with encryption enabled.
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 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.
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.
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a customer managed KMS key and specify it when creating the DB instance. — Option A is correct because you can create a customer managed KMS key and specify it when creating the DB instance. Amazon RDS for MySQL supports encryption at rest using AWS KMS, and you can choose a customer managed key at launch time. This key is used to encrypt the DB instance's storage, automated backups, read replicas, and snapshots.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 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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This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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