20+ practice questions focused on Monitoring and Troubleshooting — one of the most tested topics on the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation so you learn why the right answer is correct.
Start Monitoring and Troubleshooting PracticeA company is using Amazon RDS for MySQL and notices that the Read IOPS metric is consistently high during business hours. The application is read-heavy. Which configuration change would most likely reduce Read IOPS?
Explanation: Creating read replicas offloads read queries from the primary DB instance to replica instances, directly reducing the number of read I/O operations on the primary. Since the application is read-heavy and Read IOPS is high during business hours, distributing read traffic to replicas alleviates the I/O bottleneck on the primary instance without requiring a larger instance or storage changes.
A developer reports that an application using Amazon DynamoDB is experiencing high latency during peak hours. The table has a provisioned capacity of 500 read capacity units (RCUs) and 500 write capacity units (WCUs). The application uses eventually consistent reads and the table is about 50 GB. The developer notices throttled write requests in CloudWatch. Which action would most effectively reduce write throttling?
Explanation: The developer reports throttled write requests, which directly indicates that the provisioned write capacity (500 WCUs) is insufficient to handle the peak write traffic. Increasing the provisioned write capacity for the table is the most direct and effective action to eliminate write throttling, as it raises the limit on write operations per second. Option C is correct because it addresses the root cause—write capacity exhaustion—without introducing unnecessary components or changing read behavior.
A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. During the migration, the database administrator notices that the CPU utilization on the RDS instance is consistently above 90% during peak hours, even though the on-premises server had similar specifications. The application queries are mostly SELECT statements with occasional DML. The RDS instance is db.r5.large with 500 GB of General Purpose SSD (gp2) storage. Which change would most likely reduce CPU utilization?
Explanation: The db.r5.large instance type has 2 vCPUs and 16 GiB of memory. Sustained CPU utilization above 90% during peak hours indicates that the instance is compute-bound for the workload. Upgrading to db.r5.xlarge (4 vCPUs, 32 GiB memory) doubles the available CPU capacity, directly reducing CPU utilization for the same query load. The on-premises server had similar specifications, but RDS instances may have different CPU architectures or hypervisor overhead, making the larger instance the most direct fix.
A team manages an Amazon Aurora MySQL database. They observe that the 'Deadlocks' metric in CloudWatch is spiking. The application uses a single writer instance and multiple read replicas. Which action is most effective at reducing deadlocks?
Explanation: Deadlocks in Aurora MySQL occur when two or more transactions hold locks that the other needs, and they wait indefinitely. The most effective way to reduce deadlocks is to keep transactions short and access tables in a consistent order, which minimizes lock contention and avoids circular wait conditions. This directly addresses the root cause of deadlocks, unlike scaling or redirecting traffic, which only reduce the probability of contention without fixing the underlying locking pattern.
An organization is using Amazon DynamoDB with on-demand capacity. They notice that the 'ThrottledRequests' metric is non-zero during a specific hour each day. The table stores session data and has a partition key of 'user_id'. The workload is uniform. What is the most likely cause of throttling?
Explanation: Option D is correct because the 'ThrottledRequests' metric indicates that requests are being throttled due to partition-level capacity limits. Even with on-demand capacity, DynamoDB imposes a per-partition throughput limit (typically 1,000 WCU or 3,000 RCU per partition). If the partition key 'user_id' is not evenly distributed, a single partition can become a hot key, exceeding its limit and causing throttling despite the table having on-demand capacity.
+15 more Monitoring and Troubleshooting questions available
Practice all Monitoring and Troubleshooting questions1. Baseline your knowledge
Start with 10 questions to gauge your current understanding of Monitoring and Troubleshooting. This tells you whether you need a concept refresher or just practice.
2. Review every explanation
For each question — right or wrong — read the full explanation. Understanding why an answer is correct is more valuable than knowing the answer itself.
3. Focus on exam traps
Monitoring and Troubleshooting questions on the DBS-C01 frequently use trap wording. Look for subtle differences in answers that test your precision, not just general knowledge.
4. Reach 80% consistently
Do repeated sessions until you score 80%+ three times in a row. Then move to mixed-mode practice to test cross-topic recall under realistic conditions.
The exact number varies per candidate. Monitoring and Troubleshooting is tested as part of the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 blueprint. Practicing with targeted Monitoring and Troubleshooting questions ensures you can handle any format or difficulty that appears.
Yes. Courseiva provides free DBS-C01 practice questions across all exam topics and domains. The platform includes topic-based practice, mock exams, missed-question review, bookmarked questions, and readiness tracking — no account required.
Difficulty is subjective, but Monitoring and Troubleshooting is a high-priority exam concept tested in multiple ways — direct recall, scenario analysis, and command-output interpretation. Consistent practice is the best way to build confidence.
Launch a full Monitoring and Troubleshooting practice session with instant scoring and detailed explanations.
Start Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice →