DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company uses Amazon DynamoDB as the primary data store for a gaming application. The application experiences sudden spikes in traffic. The data engineer notices that write requests are throttled during peak times. The partition keys are well-distributed. What should the data engineer do to reduce throttling?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse throttling due to hot partitions (uneven key distribution) with throttling due to insufficient overall capacity, leading them to incorrectly choose option C even when the question explicitly states partition keys are well-distributed.
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
✓
Configure DynamoDB auto scaling to adjust write capacity automatically.
DynamoDB auto scaling allows the table to automatically adjust its provisioned write capacity based on actual traffic patterns, preventing throttling during sudden spikes without manual intervention. Since the partition keys are already well-distributed, throttling is likely due to insufficient write capacity units, which auto scaling can dynamically increase.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use DynamoDB global tables to distribute writes across regions.
Why it's wrong here
Global tables replicate writes, but don't increase write capacity in a single region.
- ✓
Configure DynamoDB auto scaling to adjust write capacity automatically.
Why this is correct
Auto scaling increases write capacity during spikes, reducing throttling.
- ✗
Increase the number of partition keys to improve write distribution.
Why it's wrong here
Partition count is determined by throughput and storage; manual increase not possible.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache write operations.
Why it's wrong here
DAX caches reads, not writes; writes go directly to DynamoDB.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses Amazon DynamoDB as the primary data store for a gaming application. The application stores user profiles and game state. During peak hours, the application experiences throttling on writes to the UserProfiles table. The table's read capacity is underutilized. Which solution should resolve the write throttling?
easy- ✓ A.Increase the provisioned write capacity units for the table.
- B.Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) on the table.
- C.Add a global secondary index (GSI) to the table.
- D.Configure auto scaling for read capacity units.
Why A: Write throttling occurs when the number of write requests exceeds the provisioned write capacity units (WCUs) for the DynamoDB table. Since the read capacity is underutilized, the correct solution is to increase the provisioned WCUs to accommodate the peak write traffic. This directly addresses the capacity deficit without affecting read operations.
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.