SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a 10 TB Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The migration must have minimal downtime. The source database is running on-premises with limited bandwidth (50 Mbps). Which strategy should be used?
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 Database Migration Service (DMS) with a full load and ongoing change data capture (CDC).
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with a full load and ongoing change data capture (CDC) minimizes downtime by continuously replicating changes from the source Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle during the full load. After the full load completes, changes are applied to keep the target in sync, allowing a very brief cutover window. Over a 50 Mbps link, the initial 10 TB full load may take days, but CDC ensures minimal downtime at cutover. Option A (Snowball) is an offline method that requires exporting, shipping, and importing the database, which introduces significant downtime. Option B (Oracle GoldenGate) is a valid replication tool but adds complexity and cost; DMS is a managed service better integrated with AWS. Option D (export to flat files and import) requires taking the database offline for the export and import, causing substantial downtime.
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 Snowball to transfer a full backup, then manually apply transaction logs.
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is offline and cannot capture ongoing changes, leading to more downtime.
- ✗
Set up a VPN connection and use Oracle GoldenGate for replication.
Why it's wrong here
While GoldenGate can work, AWS recommends DMS as a managed service with lower overhead.
- ✓
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with a full load and ongoing change data capture (CDC).
Why this is correct
DMS with CDC allows minimal downtime by replicating changes after initial load.
- ✗
Export the database to flat files, upload to Amazon S3, and import into RDS.
Why it's wrong here
This requires significant downtime to export and import.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This SAP-C02 question is part of Courseiva's 1,660-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-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 SAP-C02 exam.