AWS RDS

Question 1

What are the RDS database types?

Answer 1

There are six:
SQL Server
Oracle
MySQL
PostgreSQL
MariaDB
Amazon Aurora

Question 2

Can a DynamoDB can be the basis of an RDS instance?

Answer 2

No. It isn’t a valid type.

Question 3

What kind of workloads is RDS used for?

Answer 3

OLTP - Online Transaction Processing

RDS is great for processing lots of small transactions, like customer orders, banking transaction, payments and booking systems.

Question 4

Is RDS suitable for OLAP workloads?

Answer 4

No. You should use Redshift for data warehousing and OLAP tasks, like analyzing large amounts of data, reporting and sales forecasting.

Question 5

What are some advantages of using RDS?

Answer 5

1. You can have an RDS instance up and running in minutes.
2. Allows multi-AZ.
3. Built-in failover capacity.
4. Automated backups.

You avoid a manual install in your own data center which could take 8 days or longer using older, traditional methods.

Question 6

Does AWS RDS handle replication for you?

Answer 6

Yes. AWS handles the RDS replication for you. When you write to your production database, this write will automatically synchronize to the standby database.

Question 7

In RDS, can you read from the standby database?

Answer 7

No. The standby database is only used for replication and failover if the primary database becomes not available.

Question 8

What RDS types can be configured as Multi-AZ?

Answer 8

SQL Server
Oracle
MySQL
PostgreSQL
MariaDB

NOTE: Amazon Aurora is automatically configured as multi-AZ and cannot be configured as a single AZ.

Question 9

What RDS types cannot be configured as single AZ?

Answer 9

Amazon Aurora is automatically configured as multi-AZ and cannot be configured as a single AZ.

Question 10

RDS will _____ _____ to the standby during a failure so database operations can resume quickly without administrative intervention.

Answer 10

RDS will AUTOMATICALLY FAILOVER to the standby during a failure so database operations can resume quickly without administrative intervention.

Question 11

While the primary database is active, can you connect to the standby instance?

Answer 11

No. Multi-AZ is for discover recovery, not for improving performance, so you cannot connect to the standby when the primary database is active.

Question 12

What is a Read Replica?

Answer 12

A read replica is a read-only copy of your primary RDS database.

Question 13

What can you use to improve read performance in RDS?

Answer 13

Read Replicas

Question 14

This service is great for read-heavy workloads and takes the load off your primary RDS database.

Answer 14

Read Replicas

Question 15

True or False: You can use a multi-AZ setup in RDS to improve read performance of your database.

Answer 15

False. Multi-AZ setup in RDS is only for disaster recover. You would use read replicas to improve read performance.

Question 16

Can a read replica be promoted to be their own database?

Answer 16

Yes.

Question 17

Can replication proceed between an RDS instance and a read replica when the read replica has been promoted?

Answer 17

No, when a read replica is promoted, replication is broken.

Question 18

When would you consider promoting a read replica?

Answer 18

If you wanted to do a massive analytic process against your database and didn’t want to impact the performance of the RDS instance.

Question 19

True or False: You can use read replicas for disaster recovery.

Answer 19

False. Read replicas are used primarily for scaling, NOT disaster recovery.

Question 20

True or False: You can deploy a read replica on an RDS instance that doesn’t have automated backups.

Answer 20

False. Automatic backups must be enabled in order to deploy a read replica.

Question 21

What is an exact copy of your production database in Another Availability zone that cannot be read?

Answer 21

Multi-AZ

Question 22

What is a read-only copy of your primary database in the same AZ, cross-AZ or cross-region?

Answer 22

Read Replica

Question 23

This optional setup in RDS is used for disaster recovery.

Answer 23

Multi-AZ

Question 24

This optional setup in RDS is used for increasing or scaling read performance.

Answer 24

Read Replica

Question 25

In the event of a failure, this will cause RDS to automatically fail over to the standby instance.

Answer 25

Multi-AZ Setup

Question 26

This is great for read-heavy workloads and takes the load off your primary database for read-only workloads (e.g. Business Intelligence reporting jobs)

Answer 26

Read Replica

Question 27

What can you use to improve read performance in RDS?

Answer 27

Read Replicas

Question 28

True or False: You can use Read Replicas across multiple AZs.

Answer 28

FALSE
Remember that in the exam, they’ll try to confuse you with Availability Zones and Read Replicas. Multi-AZ is for disaster recovery only. Read replicas allow you to increase read performance of your RDS instance.

Question 29

A __________ is a read-only copy of your primary database in RDS.

Answer 29

Read Replica

Question 30

Does a Read Replica allow you to take load off your primary database?

Answer 30

YES

A Read Replica allow you to take load off your primary database. It’s great for ready-heavy workloads.

Question 31

What’s the difference between use cases for Multi-AZ and Read Replicas in RDS?

Answer 31

Multi-AZ is:

• an exact copy of your production database in another Availability Zone.
• used for disaster recovery.
• in the event of a failure, RDS will automatically fail over to the standby instance.

Read Replica is:

• a read-only copy of your primary database in the same AZ, cross-AZ or cross-region.
• used to increase or scale read performance.
• great for ready-heavy workloads and takes the load off your primary database for read-only workloads. (e.g. business intelligence reporting jobs).