AWS DMS Serverless for Dynamic Data Replication

SAA-C03 By islever Editorial Last updated

Determine appropriate data security controls.

Short answer

B Create an AWS DMS Serverless replication task to analyze and replicate the data while provisioning the required capacity.

Question

A company wants to replicate existing and ongoing data changes from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The amount of data to replicate varies throughout each day. The company wants to use AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) for data replication. The solution must allocate only the capacity that the replication instance requires. Which solution will meet these requirements?
  1. Configure the AWS DMS replication instance with a Multi-AZ deployment to provision instances across multiple Availability Zones.
  2. Create an AWS DMS Serverless replication task to analyze and replicate the data while provisioning the required capacity. Correct Answer
  3. Use Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to scale the size of the AWS DMS replication instance up or down based on the amount of data toreplicate.
  4. Provision AWS DMS replication capacity by using Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) with an AWS Fargate launch type to analyze and replicate the data while provisioning the required capacity.

Key Takeaways

The exam tests knowledge of AWS DMS deployment models, specifically identifying that Serverless instances auto-scale capacity unlike standard or Multi-AZ instances which require manual sizing.

This question addresses how to dynamically allocate compute resources for AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) replication tasks. It establishes that AWS DMS Serverless is the specific feature designed to automatically provision capacity based on workload demands.

Common mistake: Candidates often select Option A (Multi-AZ), confusing high availability with elastic scaling; however, Multi-AZ only provides redundancy across zones without automatically adjusting compute capacity to match data volume.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

AWS DMS Serverless is explicitly designed to eliminate the management of replication instance capacity. When you create a serverless task, AWS DMS automatically provisions and scales the necessary compute and memory resources based on the actual workload requirements, perfectly matching the requirement to "allocate only the capacity that the replication instance requires." This makes it ideal for variable workloads where data volume fluctuates throughout the day.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option A (Multi-AZ) ensures high availability by replicating the instance across multiple Availability Zones, but it does not change the size of the instance or scale capacity up/down; you still have to manually choose an instance class. Option C (EC2 Auto Scaling) is incorrect because AWS DMS replication instances are managed services and cannot be directly controlled by EC2 Auto Scaling groups; you manage DMS instance size via the DMS console/API, not EC2 policies. Option D (ECS/Fargate) is irrelevant because AWS DMS is a managed service that runs its own infrastructure; you do not deploy DMS tasks on custom ECS containers using Fargate.

Community Comment Notes

The community overwhelmingly supports Option B, with votes heavily favoring the serverless approach. As noted in helpful comments, AWS DMS Serverless is the correct choice for automatic capacity management. One commenter provided the official documentation link confirming that serverless DMS allocates resources based on demand. Another user suggested Option A, likely due to confusion between availability and scalability, but this contradicts the specific requirement for dynamic capacity allocation.

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/dms/latest/userguide/CHAP_Serverless.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

When questions mention 'variable load' or 'allocate only required capacity' for managed services like DMS, look for 'Serverless' options first. Avoid 'Auto Scaling' for managed database/migration services unless explicitly stated as a supported integration, as these services usually handle their own scaling internally.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Multi-AZ not the right answer for scaling?

Multi-AZ provides high availability across zones but uses a fixed instance size. It does not automatically scale compute capacity up or down based on data volume.

Can I use EC2 Auto Scaling for DMS instances?

No, DMS replication instances are managed services. You cannot attach them to EC2 Auto Scaling groups. Use DMS Serverless for automatic scaling.

More SAA-C03 FAQ →

Community Votes

B
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer B. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 5 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 5

  1. [Removed] 👍 8 Answered B
    B. Create an AWS DMS Serverless replication task to analyze and replicate the data while provisioning the required capacity. Explanation: AWS DMS Serverless is designed to automatically allocate and manage the necessary compute and memory resources based on the demand of the data replication workload. It scales capacity up or down according to the data replication requirements without manual intervention. This approach ensures that the replication task uses only the required capacity at any given time, optimizing costs and resources, especially given that the amount of data to replicate varies throughout the day.
  2. JunsK1e 👍 5 Answered B
    Correct answer is B since the question need to allocate only the capacity that the replication instance requires
  3. EllenLiu 👍 1 Answered B
    https://docs.aws.amazon.com/dms/latest/userguide/CHAP_Serverless.html
  4. pujithacg8 👍 2
    correct answer could be "B"
  5. komorebi 👍 1 Answered A
    Answer is A

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