CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
Which AWS service provides a managed in-memory caching layer to reduce database load and improve application response times?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse DAX (a DynamoDB-specific cache) with a general-purpose caching solution, but ElastiCache is the correct managed service for reducing database load across various database engines.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon ElastiCache
Amazon ElastiCache is the correct answer because it provides a managed in-memory caching service that supports both Redis and Memcached, allowing applications to retrieve data from a fast, in-memory cache instead of querying a slower disk-based database. This reduces database load and improves application response times by serving frequently accessed data directly from the cache.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX)
Why it's wrong here
Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) is an in-memory cache purpose-built for Amazon DynamoDB, reducing response times for DynamoDB operations from single-digit milliseconds to microseconds. However, it only works with DynamoDB tables and cannot be used as a general-purpose cache for other databases, such as Amazon RDS or self-managed MySQL. ElastiCache is the correct choice when the caching layer must support multiple data stores or engines.
- ✓
Amazon ElastiCache
Why this is correct
Amazon ElastiCache is a fully managed, in-memory caching service supporting the Redis and Memcached engines. It sits in front of databases or applications to reduce read latency from milliseconds to microseconds by serving hot data directly from RAM. Because it is engine-agnostic, ElastiCache can cache database query results, session state, API responses, or any key/value data, making it the correct general-purpose caching layer for this scenario.
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Amazon CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static and dynamic content at edge locations around the world to reduce latency for end users and offload origin servers. While it does cache HTTP responses, it does not provide an in-memory key/value data store for application-level database caching; its cache is object-based and lives on disks/SSDs at edge nodes, not as a low-latency in-memory cache layer for database queries.
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AWS Global Accelerator
Why it's wrong here
AWS Global Accelerator is a networking service that uses static anycast IP addresses and AWS's global network infrastructure to route user traffic over optimized paths, improving TCP/UDP performance and connection health. It does not store or cache data at all; it only directs traffic more efficiently. Therefore, it cannot provide the in-memory data caching required by this use case.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.