The answer is to increase the number of shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15. This is correct because each shard provides a maximum write capacity of 1 MB per second, so with 10 shards the total throughput is only 10 MB/s, while the incoming data rate is 15 MB/s, directly causing the ProvisionedThroughputExceededException. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of Kinesis shard-level limits and the distinction between producer-side throttling and consumer-side issues like Lambda concurrency. A common trap is to confuse this error with Lambda scaling or memory problems, but the exception name itself points to throughput capacity on the stream. Remember the key formula: total write capacity = number of shards × 1 MB/s, so always match shard count to your peak write rate. A helpful mnemonic is “Shards for speed, Lambdas for need”—shards fix throughput, Lambda settings fix processing.
DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses Amazon Kinesis Data Streams with a shard count of 10 to ingest clickstream data. The data is consumed by a Lambda function that transforms the records and writes to Amazon S3. Recently, the Lambda function started failing with 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' errors. The average record size is 5 KB, and the incoming data rate is 15 MB/s. What is the most likely cause and solution?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15.
Option B is correct because with 10 shards, the total write capacity is 10 MB/s (1 MB/s per shard). The incoming rate is 15 MB/s, exceeding capacity. Increasing shards to 15 would provide 15 MB/s write capacity. Option A is wrong because Lambda concurrency is not the issue; the error is about throughput exceeded. Option C is wrong because increasing Lambda memory does not affect Kinesis write limits. Option D is wrong because the error is on the producer side, not the consumer.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 number of shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15.
Why this is correct
Each shard provides 1 MB/s write capacity; 15 shards would support 15 MB/s.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Decrease the batch size of the Lambda event source mapping.
Why it's wrong here
Batch size affects processing, not write throughput.
✗
Increase the Lambda function's memory allocation to 3008 MB.
Why it's wrong here
Memory allocation does not impact Kinesis throughput.
✗
Increase the Lambda function's reserved concurrency.
Why it's wrong here
Lambda concurrency does not affect Kinesis write capacity.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Data Ingestion and Transformation — This question tests Data Ingestion and Transformation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15. — Option B is correct because with 10 shards, the total write capacity is 10 MB/s (1 MB/s per shard). The incoming rate is 15 MB/s, exceeding capacity. Increasing shards to 15 would provide 15 MB/s write capacity. Option A is wrong because Lambda concurrency is not the issue; the error is about throughput exceeded. Option C is wrong because increasing Lambda memory does not affect Kinesis write limits. Option D is wrong because the error is on the producer side, not the consumer.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 is using Amazon Kinesis Data Streams to ingest real-time clickstream data. The data is consumed by a fleet of EC2 instances running a custom application that processes the records and writes to DynamoDB. The application is experiencing high latency and records are being processed slower than they are produced. The stream has 5 shards. Which action would MOST effectively improve processing speed?
hard
A.Use the Kinesis Client Library (KCL) to automatically distribute shards among instances.
B.Increase the EC2 instance size to provide more CPU and memory.
C.Add more EC2 instances consuming from the same stream without changing shard count.
✓ D.Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream.
Why D: Increasing the number of shards increases the throughput of the stream, allowing more parallel consumers. Option A is wrong because increasing instance size may not help if the bottleneck is the stream. Option C is wrong because adding more consumers without more shards doesn't help (each shard supports one consumer per application). Option D is wrong because KCL handles shard distribution, but more shards are needed.
Variation 2. A company is using Amazon Kinesis Data Streams with a Lambda consumer to process clickstream data. The data rate is high and the Lambda function is falling behind, resulting in increased processing latency. What is the MOST effective way to improve throughput?
medium
A.Increase the memory allocated to the Lambda function.
B.Increase the Lambda function timeout.
C.Use Kinesis Data Firehose instead of Lambda.
✓ D.Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream.
Why D: Option C is correct because increasing the number of shards increases the stream's capacity and allows more concurrent Lambda invocations. Option A is incorrect because Lambda concurrency might be a limit but the root cause is shard count. Option B is incorrect because increasing Lambda memory may help but not as much as more shards. Option D is incorrect because Firehose would add a separate step.
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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.
Question Discussion
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