PAS-C01 Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating a web application from an on-premises data center to AWS. The application uses a MySQL database that is 500 GB in size. The company wants to minimize downtime during the migration. Which approach should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse AWS DMS with AWS SCT, assuming SCT handles data migration, when in fact SCT only converts schema and code, while DMS is the service that performs the actual data migration with minimal downtime via CDC.
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 ongoing replication
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication (change data capture, CDC) allows you to perform a live migration with minimal downtime. You can start a full load of the 500 GB MySQL database while the source remains operational, then enable CDC to replicate ongoing changes until you cut over to the target RDS instance, reducing the downtime window to seconds.
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 an RDS read replica and promote it
Why it's wrong here
RDS read replica requires an existing RDS instance; not suitable for initial migration.
- ✓
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication
Why this is correct
DMS migrates data while changes are replicated, minimizing downtime.
- ✗
Stop the database, take a mysqldump, and restore to RDS
Why it's wrong here
Requires substantial downtime during dump and restore.
- ✗
Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to migrate the schema and data
Why it's wrong here
SCT converts schema; data migration still needs a separate tool like DMS.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-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 PAS-C01 exam.