DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company is using Amazon DynamoDB with on-demand capacity for a gaming application that experiences unpredictable traffic spikes. The application consistently sees 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' errors during spikes. The data engineer needs to resolve this issue without changing the application code. What should the engineer do?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume the table is already on-demand because the question states 'on-demand capacity,' but the error message 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' reveals the table is actually in provisioned mode, testing whether you recognize the mismatch between the stated configuration and the error.
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
✓
Switch the table to on-demand capacity mode
The application is already using on-demand capacity, but the error 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' indicates the table is actually in provisioned mode, not on-demand. Switching to on-demand capacity mode eliminates throttling by automatically scaling throughput to match traffic spikes, with no code changes required.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Switch the table to on-demand capacity mode
Why this is correct
On-demand mode automatically scales to handle traffic spikes without throttling.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache read requests
Why it's wrong here
DAX reduces read latency but does not help with write throughput errors.
- ✗
Increase the read capacity units
Why it's wrong here
The error is likely due to write throttling; increasing read capacity does not help.
- ✗
Enable auto scaling for the table with a higher maximum capacity
Why it's wrong here
Auto scaling helps but may not react fast enough for unpredictable spikes; on-demand is better.
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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.