DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A data team is designing an ETL process to extract data from an operational database daily. The database experiences heavy write loads during business hours. What is the best practice to minimize impact on operations?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that off-peak scheduling (midnight) is always sufficient, but the question emphasizes heavy write loads during business hours and asks for best practice to minimize impact—isolating the workload via replication is the more robust answer.
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 replication or a read replica to extract data
Extracting from a read replica or replicated copy isolates the ETL workload from the primary database that serves production transactions. This prevents the heavy read queries of the ETL process from competing with business-critical writes and locks, preserving performance for users. It is the standard best practice for minimizing operational impact while still obtaining the needed data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Extract directly from the primary database with high priority
Why it's wrong here
High-priority reads on the primary compete directly with business-hour writes for CPU, locks and I/O, worsening the operational impact the ETL must avoid. It is tempting because priority flags exist to guarantee latency for critical queries, but that is for time-sensitive reporting against a replica, not bulk extraction.
- ✗
Run the extraction during peak hours to ensure data freshness
Why it's wrong here
Peak-hour extraction competes with the heavy write load for locks, I/O and CPU, degrading production transactions; scheduling during low-usage windows avoids contention. It is tempting because running at peak guarantees the freshest data, and peak extraction would be right for a read replica or a database with ample idle capacity.
- ✗
Schedule extraction at midnight when load is low
Why it's wrong here
Midnight scheduling still reads the same primary database, so it does not remove contention; it merely shifts it to a quieter window that may not exist for global or batch workloads. It is tempting because off-peak scheduling is a valid tactic when write load genuinely drops, but here the requirement is decoupling reads from the primary.
- ✓
Use replication or a read replica to extract data
Why this is correct
A read replica or replicated copy serves extraction queries on separate hardware, so the heavy business-hours write load on the operational database is not contended by the daily ETL reads. This satisfies the stated constraint of minimising operational impact.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 DA0-002 exam.