Q42 — AWS SAA-C03 Ch.17

Question 42 of 89 | ← Chapter 17

Q1342. A company is developing an application that uses an Amazon Aurora MySQL database. The company plans to regularly make changes to the MySQL database schema to test new features. The tests must not affect the existing production database.When the company finishes testing, a developer needs to replicate the changes to production database.The solution must cause minimal downtime.Which solution will meet these requirements?

• A. Create a new staging Aurora MySQL database cluster based on the existing database.Make the schema changes to the new staging database cluster to test the new features.
• B. Create a read replica based on the existing Aurora MySQL database. Make the schema changes to the read replica. Promote the read replica to primary after successful testing. ✓
• C. Create a blue/green deployment of the Aurora MySQL database.Make schema changes in the staging environment to test new features. Direct traffic from the green environment to the blue environment when testing is complete.
• D. Replicate the Aurora MySQL database to an Amazon DynamoDB table. Make the schema changes to the DynamoDB table to test the new features. Configure the application to use the DynamoDB table when testing is complete.

Correct Answer: B. Create a read replica based on the existing Aurora MySQL database. Make the schema changes to the read replica. Promote the read replica to primary after successful testing.

Explanation

B OR C.Let's analyze each option based on the requirements:Requirements RecapRegularly make changes to the MySQL database schema for testing new features without affecting the existing production database.Replicate the changes to the production database with minimal downtime after testing is complete.Option ACreating a Staging Database Cluster: Creating a new staging Aurora MySQL database cluster based on the existing database is a good start. This allows developers to make schema changes in an isolated environment without impacting the production database. However, this option does not address how to replicate the changes to the production database with minimal downtime. After testing, the developer would need to manually apply the schema changes to the production database, which could be time - consuming and error - prone, and may cause significant downtime depending on the complexity of the changes.Option BUsing a Read Replica:Isolated Testing Environment: Creating a read replica based on the existing Aurora MySQL database provides an isolated environment for testing schema changes. Since a read replica is a copy of the primary database, changes made to it do not affect the production (primary) database. Minimal Downtime Replication: After successful testing, promoting the read replica to the primary database is a well - established process in Amazon Aurora. This operation can be performed with minimal downtime, usually just a brief interruption during the promotion process. This meets the requirement of replicating changes to the production database with minimal downtime.Option CBlue/Green Deployment for Database: While blue/green deployment is a common strategy for application deployment, it is not as straightforward for databases, especially for schema changes. Managing two separate database environments (blue and green) and then switching traffic between them for database - related changes is complex. It requires careful synchronization of data between the two environments, and ensuring data consistency during the switch can be challenging. This approach is more suitable for application code deployments rather than database schema changes.Option DReplicating to DynamoDB: Amazon DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, while the application is using an Amazon Aurora MySQL database. Replicating the MySQL database to a DynamoDB table is not a straightforward process, and it would require significant changes to the application's data access layer. Moreover, making schema changes in DynamoDB is fundamentally different from making schema changes in a relational database like MySQL. This option does not meet the requirement of easily replicating MySQL schema changes to the production environment.Therefore, the solution that will meet the requirements is Option B.So the answer is B.