DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company is using Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. During a marketing campaign, write traffic spikes, and some write requests fail with ProvisionedThroughputExceededException. The auto scaling policy has a target utilization of 70% and a maximum capacity that is high enough. What is the most likely cause of the throttling?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume a correctly configured auto scaling policy with sufficient maximum capacity will always prevent throttling, ignoring the inherent latency in auto scaling's reaction to sudden, short-lived traffic spikes.
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
✓
Auto scaling cannot react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes.
Auto scaling in DynamoDB adjusts capacity based on the average utilization over a period (typically 5-10 minutes). When a sudden traffic spike occurs, the write requests can exceed the current provisioned capacity before the auto scaling policy has time to react and increase the capacity. This delay causes ProvisionedThroughputExceededException errors, even though the maximum capacity is set high enough.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The table has a global secondary index that is throttling.
Why it's wrong here
A throttled global secondary index returns its own index-level errors, but the stem describes write requests failing on the base table during a spike. GSIs are the culprit when index partition keys are poorly distributed, not when table write capacity lags. Tempting because GSIs do throttle independently, yet nothing here indicates index writes.
- ✓
Auto scaling cannot react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes.
Why this is correct
DynamoDB auto scaling adjusts capacity through CloudWatch alarms over minutes, so it lags behind abrupt spikes. The maximum capacity being sufficient is irrelevant; the reaction delay itself causes ProvisionedThroughputExceededException when demand outpaces the scaling response.
- ✗
The table does not have enough maximum capacity.
Why it's wrong here
The stem explicitly states maximum capacity is high enough, so the ceiling is not the constraint; throttling stems from the delay before auto scaling provisions capacity during a rapid spike. Insufficient maximums are tempting because they genuinely cause throttling, but that condition is ruled out here.
- ✗
The auto scaling policy is not configured correctly.
Why it's wrong here
Auto scaling reacts on a cooldown schedule, so a sudden spike exhausts current capacity before new capacity provisions; the policy itself is functioning as designed with a valid target and ceiling. Misconfiguration is tempting because throttling looks like a policy fault, but the described settings are sound.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DEA-C01 question from scratch — 1,321 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.