DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company uses Amazon DynamoDB to store user session data. The table has a partition key of UserID and a sort key of SessionStartTime. The application frequently queries for all sessions of a specific user within a date range. The table is provisioned with 1000 RCUs and 1000 WCUs. During peak hours, the application experiences throttling on read requests. Which action should a data engineer take to resolve the throttling with minimal changes?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that a more complex solution like DAX or on-demand mode is needed, when simply increasing provisioned capacity resolves the immediate throttling issue.
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
✓
Increase the provisioned read capacity units (RCUs) for the table.
Read throttling occurs when the consumed read capacity exceeds the provisioned RCUs. Increasing RCUs is the most direct and minimal solution, as it provides more read capacity without requiring application changes or architectural modifications. It addresses the root cause of the throttling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Increase the provisioned read capacity units (RCUs) for the table.
Why this is correct
Throttling on read requests indicates insufficient read capacity. Increasing RCUs directly addresses the issue by allowing more read operations per second. Since the table is already provisioned, adjusting RCUs is a minimal change that can be done without application modifications or schema changes.
- ✗
Create a global secondary index (GSI) on the SessionStartTime attribute.
Why it's wrong here
A GSI would allow queries on SessionStartTime alone, but the application queries by UserID and a date range on SessionStartTime. The existing table already supports this query pattern efficiently. Adding a GSI would not resolve read throttling and would introduce additional write capacity costs and management overhead.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for the table.
Why it's wrong here
DAX reduces read latency and can offload read traffic, but it requires application changes to use the DAX client and adds cost. It is not the minimal change to resolve throttling, especially if the access pattern is not cache-friendly. Increasing RCUs is simpler and directly addresses the capacity issue.
- ✗
Change the table's capacity mode to on-demand.
Why it's wrong here
Switching to on-demand mode eliminates capacity planning and automatically scales, but it is a significant change that may increase cost unpredictably. It also requires modifying the table settings, which is not minimal. The scenario implies a provisioned table with known capacity needs, so increasing RCUs is more appropriate.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.