Databases

Question 1

Which relational databases are available through AWS? (6)

Answer 1

• SQL Server
• Oracle
• MySQL Server
• PostgreSQL
• Aurora
• MariaDB

Question 2

What are the two key features of the Relational Database Services? (2)

Answer 2

• Multi-AZ, for disaster recovery

- Read Replicas, for performance

Question 3

On what does RDS run?

Answer 3

Virtual machines

Question 4

Whose responsibility is the patching of the RDS operating system and database?

Answer 4

Amazon’s

Question 5

Is RDS serverless?

Answer 5

No, except for Aurora Serverless

Question 6

What is DynamoDB?

Answer 6

Amazon’s NoSQL solution

Question 7

If you have a restored version of a database, does its DNS endpoint stay the same or change?

Answer 7

With any type of backup (automated/snapshot), the restored version of the database will be a new RDS instance with a new DNS endpoint

Question 8

What level of recovery do automated backups allow you?

Answer 8

Allow you to recover your database to any point in time within a retention period of 1-35 days

Question 9

How often do automated backups take a full backup? (2)

Answer 9

• A full backup each day

- Also store transaction logs throughout the day

Question 10

How do automated backups allow point in time recovery down to the second? (2)

Answer 10

• AWS first chooses the most recent daily back up

- Then applies transaction logs relevant to that day

Question 11

Are automated backups enabled by default?

Answer 11

Yes

Question 12

Where is the backup data from automated backups stored?

Answer 12

In S3

Question 13

How much free storage space do you have with automated backups?

Answer 13

Free storage space equal to the size of your database

Question 14

What occurs during a backup window for automated backups? (2)

Answer 14

• Storage input/output may be suspended

- May experience elevated latency

Question 15

Are database snapshots conducted manually or automatically?

Answer 15

Database snapshots are done manually

Question 16

Are database snapshots and automated backups stored after you delete the original RDS instance? (2)

Answer 16

• Database snapshots are stored even after you delete the original RDS instance
• Automated backups are not stored even after you delete the original RDS instance

Question 17

What does a Multi-AZ backup allow you to have?

Answer 17

A Multi-AZ backup allows you to have an exact copy of your production database in another Availability Zone

Question 18

What are examples of incidents which trigger the use of Multi-AZ protection? (4)

Answer 18

• Primary database goes down
• Planned database maintenance
• DB instance failure
• Availability Zone failure

Question 19

Describe the connections of the primary database and secondary database within a Multi-AZ backup setup (2)

Answer 19

• Primary database in an AZ DNS address EC2 instance

- Secondary database in an AZ DNS address EC2 instance

Question 20

What occurs should the primary database go down, but Multi-AZ backups are enabled? (2)

Answer 20

• The DNS address will update automatically and direct to the secondary database
• Amazon RDS will automatically failover to the standby