This quiz assesses your foundational knowledge of managed database services and concepts related to AWS RDS, covering supported engines, high availability features, security settings, backup options, and key service distinctions. Enhance your understanding of cloud database deployment, maintenance, and best practices with these targeted multiple-choice questions.
Which of the following is a database engine supported by RDS for creating managed relational databases in the cloud?
Explanation: MySQL is one of the relational database engines supported through RDS for managed deployments. MongoDB and Cassandra are NoSQL databases that are not directly supported by the service as relational engines. Redis is an in-memory key-value store and is supported in a separate managed service, not through the relational database service.
What feature allows you to automatically recover your database instance to a specific point in time within the backup retention period?
Explanation: Automated Backups enable point-in-time recovery for your database within a specified retention window. Replication Logs are used for data replication but do not directly provide recovery features. Database Cloning is a feature for duplicating instances but not specifically for point-in-time restoration. Snapshot Migration refers to moving database snapshots, not on-demand point-in-time recovery.
Which configuration provides enhanced availability by automatically failing over to a standby replica in a different zone if the primary instance fails?
Explanation: Multi-AZ Deployment set-ups offer high availability by synchronously replicating data to a standby in another zone, enabling automatic failover. Read Replicas are designed for read scalability, not high availability. Single-AZ Instances are confined to one location and lack failover capability. Sharding divides data across nodes for scaling horizontally, not for automated failover.
What must you configure to control inbound and outbound network traffic to your RDS database instance?
Explanation: A Security Group acts as a virtual firewall to control network traffic for the database instance. Resource Tags are used for identification and billing but do not affect security rules. Auto Scaling Groups relate to compute resources and dynamic scaling, not directly to database instance security. Key Pairs are used for encrypting access credentials, not for controlling network traffic.
Which setting enables the encryption of data stored on disk for your database instances, backups, and snapshots?
Explanation: Encryption at Rest ensures stored data, including backups and snapshots, is encrypted for security. IAM Policies manage permissions rather than encrypting data. Database Endpoints are connection addresses with no effect on encryption. Multi-Region Replication handles data distribution and disaster recovery, not at-rest encryption.
If you want to improve read performance and distribute workload across multiple servers, which feature should you use?
Explanation: Read Replicas help offload read traffic and balance the workload, enhancing performance and scalability. Enhanced Monitoring provides visibility into metrics but does not impact performance directly. Parameter Groups manage configuration settings; they do not distribute reads. Snapshot Sharing is for transferring backups between accounts or regions and is unrelated to workload distribution.
Which of the following storage options is generally used to balance cost and performance for most RDS use cases?
Explanation: General Purpose SSD (gp2) storage offers a good combination of cost and performance for typical machines. Magnetic (standard) is slower and more outdated, suitable only for legacy or infrequent access cases. High IOPS SSD (io1) is designed for workloads that need exceptionally high performance but costs more. Durable Tape Storage refers to traditional offline backups, not appropriate for active database storage.
When scheduling a maintenance window for a database instance, what kind of actions might take place during that period?
Explanation: Maintenance windows allow for actions like applying software patches or routine updates to the database instance. Increasing application limits is an application-side operation, not part of maintenance. User password resets occur as needed, not specifically during maintenance. Data model normalization is a design activity done by database administrators, not part of the scheduled maintenance tasks.
What is the purpose of a database endpoint in managed database services?
Explanation: A database endpoint serves as the address or URL through which external applications connect to the managed database. Encryption of backups is handled by other features, not by the endpoint. The endpoint is unrelated to how you set or scale database storage. Adjusting resource tagging for billing is part of cost management, not network connection management.
Which option allows you to create a user-initiated backup of your database that can be restored at any time?
Explanation: A Database Snapshot is a manual backup that can be created at your discretion and restored at any time. Automated Log Export refers to exporting logs, not taking full database backups. Parameter Groups are used for configuration settings, not for backups. Read Replicas are used for read scalability, not specifically for database backup and restore purposes.