DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company uses Amazon DynamoDB for a gaming application that requires single-digit millisecond read and write latencies. The application experiences throttling on the 'GameScores' table during peak hours. The table has a partition key of 'game_id' and a sort key of 'player_id'. The data engineer needs to improve performance without changing the table's provisioned capacity. Which THREE actions should the engineer take? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse adaptive capacity with auto scaling, or think that increasing provisioned capacity is the only solution, but the question explicitly prohibits changing provisioned capacity, making options that alter RCUs or WCUs incorrect.
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
✓
Enable DynamoDB auto scaling to adjust capacity based on traffic patterns.
DynamoDB auto scaling automatically adjusts the provisioned read and write capacity based on actual traffic patterns, preventing throttling during peak hours without manual intervention. This allows the table to handle bursts while maintaining single-digit millisecond latencies, as long as the traffic stays within the auto scaling limits.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB adaptive capacity to allow more throughput per partition.
Why it's wrong here
Adaptive capacity is always on and does not require explicit enablement.
- ✓
Enable DynamoDB auto scaling to adjust capacity based on traffic patterns.
Why this is correct
Auto scaling prevents throttling by adjusting capacity automatically.
- ✓
Add a Global Secondary Index (GSI) on a different partition key to offload reads.
Why this is correct
A GSI can distribute read traffic and reduce throttling on the base table.
- ✓
Implement DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for caching frequent reads.
Why this is correct
DAX reduces read load on the table by caching results.
- ✗
Increase the read capacity units (RCUs) to twice the peak observed value.
Why it's wrong here
This changes provisioned capacity, which the engineer wants to avoid.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,711 original DEA-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. 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.