A database administrator wants to enable the native backup and restore feature for a SQL Server RDS instance, which is an add-on capability provided by the engine rather than a core configuration setting like memory allocation. Which RDS construct is used to enable engine-specific add-on features like this?
- A DB subnet group
- A parameter group
- An option group, which enables optional, engine-specific features such as native backup and restore
- A read replica
Why C? And why not the others?
Correct answer: C. An option group, which enables optional, engine-specific features such as native backup and restore
Option groups in RDS are specifically for enabling optional features that are not part of the core database engine installation, such as SQL Server's native backup and restore, the Oracle Application Express add-on, or the MySQL audit plugin, so an option group is the correct construct for the SQL Server scenario described. The option describing a DB subnet group is wrong because subnet groups define which VPC subnets an RDS instance can be placed in for networking purposes and have nothing to do with enabling database engine features. The option describing a parameter group is wrong because parameter groups control the database engine's runtime configuration values, such as memory-related or logging settings, rather than turning on optional add-on capabilities. The option describing a read replica is wrong because a read replica is an entirely separate database instance used for read scaling or disaster recovery, not a mechanism for enabling features on an existing instance.
Source: AWS RDS documentation: working with option groups and parameter groups