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
No mention of GSI, and the error is on the table.
- ✓
Auto scaling cannot react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes.
Why this is correct
Auto scaling has a lag, so sudden spikes can cause throttling.
- ✗
The table does not have enough maximum capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Maximum capacity is high enough.
- ✗
The auto scaling policy is not configured correctly.
Why it's wrong here
Auto scaling is enabled and configured.
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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.