A 4 TB Oracle database must migrate to Aurora PostgreSQL with under 30 minutes of downtime. Which approach achieves near-zero-downtime migration including heterogeneous schema conversion?
A.Export/import with a full-day maintenance window
Export/import requires downtime proportional to data size.
B.AWS SCT for schema conversion + DMS with full load and ongoing replication (CDC)
Correct. SCT + DMS CDC is the designed heterogeneous path.
C.Snapshot the Oracle DB and restore to Aurora
Aurora can't restore Oracle snapshots — different engines.
D.Replicate with native Oracle Data Guard to Aurora
Data Guard replicates Oracle→Oracle only, not to Aurora.
Why this answer
AWS Schema Conversion Tool converts the schema/code objects; Database Migration Service does initial load then continuous change data capture, keeping target in sync until cutover — the standard near-zero-downtime heterogeneous migration.
Correct answer: B · Last reviewed 2026-10-26
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