AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 445

A company runs its application on an Oracle database. The company plans to quickly migrate to AWS because of limited resources for the database, backup administration, and data center maintenance. The application uses third-party database features that require privileged access.

Which solution will help the company migrate the database to AWS MOST cost-effectively?

Answer options

• A. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. Replace third-party features with cloud services.
• B. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle. Customize the database settings to support third-party features.
• C. Migrate the database to an Amazon EC2 Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for Oracle. Customize the database settings to support third-party features.
• D. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL by rewriting the application code to remove dependency on Oracle APEX.

Correct answer: B

Explanation

Amazon RDS Custom for Oracle is the ideal solution because it automates database administration, backups, and infrastructure maintenance while still granting the privileged operating system and database access required for third-party features. Standard Amazon RDS for Oracle does not allow the necessary privileged access, whereas running Oracle on Amazon EC2 increases the administrative burden for backups and OS patching, making it less cost-effective. Rewriting the application for RDS for PostgreSQL would be highly complex, time-consuming, and does not align with a quick migration goal.