AWS Certified Database – Specialty

About the Certification

This is an AWS Specialty-level certification within the Database track, focused on designing, operating, optimizing, and securing cloud database systems using AWS services such as Amazon RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, DocumentDB, Neptune, Redshift, and ElastiCache, among others. The certification covers the entire database lifecycle:
Modeling → Selection → Deployment → Management → Security → Optimization. It is designed for database professionals and validates your ability to build high-performance, reliable, and scalable database solutions on AWS.

Main Curriculum

The curriculum is divided into six main sections

  • Monitoring and Troubleshooting
    • Amazon CloudWatch and database insights
    • Performance monitoring
    • Troubleshooting latency and failures
    • Capacity planning
  • Security and Compliance
    • Encryption at rest and in transit
    • IAM and database authentication
    • Network isolation using VPC
    • Compliance and audit readiness
  • Availability, Backup, and Recovery
    • High availability and fault tolerance
    • Backup and restore strategies
    • Multi-AZ and Multi-Region architectures
    • Disaster recovery planning
  • Performance and Optimization
    • Query optimization
    • Indexing strategies
    • Caching with Amazon ElastiCache
    • Scalability (read replicas / sharding)
  • Deployment and Migration
    • Deploying databases on AWS
    • AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) and migration strategies
    • Lift-and-shift versus modernization approaches
    • Hybrid and multi-region considerations
  • Database Design and Selection
    • Choosing the right database for each use case
    • Relational vs NoSQL vs in-memory databases
    • Schema design and data modeling
    • Balancing performance and cost

Exam Details

  • Exam code: DBS-C01
  • Duration: 170–180 minutes
  • Number of questions: 65
  • Question types: Multiple-choice, multiple-response, ordering, and matching
  • Language: English
  • Passing score: 750 out of 1000
  • Exam fee: USD 300 (may vary by country and may include taxes)
  • Certification validity: 3 years

Do I need certifications before it ?

No, not at all. 

However, it is recommended to have experience with relational and non-relational databases, a solid understanding of core AWS services, and hands-on experience with SQL.
Holding the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification or equivalent practical experience is considered a strong advantage.

Which certifications are recommended after this one ?

Not mandatory.
However, for professionals seeking a strong path in designing and managing databases on AWS especially database engine selection, performance optimization, security, and high availability the AWS Certified Database – Specialty certification is the strongest specialization.

What are the main career uses of the AWS Certified Database – Specialty ?

  • Advanced Data Engineering (Glue / Redshift / Lakehouse) for enterprise-scale data platform design.
  • AWS Data Analytics – Specialty for building end-to-end analytics solutions.
  • Cloud Architecture (Solutions Architect – Professional) to connect database design with highly available architectures.
  • Database Performance & Optimization for specialization in performance tuning, availability, and cost optimization.
  • Multi-Cloud Databases (Azure / GCP) to expand database expertise across multiple cloud providers.
  • Data Security & Governance to focus on encryption, compliance, and database governance.

Your Step Toward Cloud Database Mastery :

The DBS-C01 certification empowers you to design and manage large-scale cloud databases on AWS. It is a strong step for any Data Engineer or Database Administrator seeking professional mastery of cloud database management.

Who is this certification suitable for ?

  • Database Administrators, Data Engineers, and Solutions Architects.
  • Professionals specializing in relational and non-relational databases on AWS.
  • Engineers managing large or sensitive production databases.
  • Those designing database-centric systems or migrating databases to the cloud.
  • Candidates targeting roles such as Database Engineer, Cloud DBA, Data Platform Engineer, or Database Architect.

In short :

DBS-C01 is ideal for anyone working with databases who wants to master advanced cloud database design and operations on AWS.

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