DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is monitoring an Amazon EMR cluster running a Spark job. The job is processing a large dataset and the engineer notices that the cluster is using a high percentage of disk space on the core nodes. The job fails with 'No space left on device' error. What is the most effective way to resolve this issue without modifying the job logic?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse storage issues with memory or compute issues, and incorrectly choose to increase EBS volume size (Option B) instead of scaling horizontally, which is the most effective way to distribute disk load in a distributed system like EMR.
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 number of core nodes in the cluster.
Increasing the number of core nodes distributes the intermediate shuffle data and temporary files across more nodes, reducing the per-node disk usage. This directly addresses the 'No space left on device' error without altering the Spark job logic, as core nodes in EMR store both HDFS data and local shuffle spills.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Attach additional EBS volumes to the core nodes.
Why it's wrong here
EMR does not use EBS for temporary data by default.
- ✗
Increase the EBS volume size attached to the core nodes.
Why it's wrong here
EMR uses instance store for temporary data, not EBS.
- ✗
Change the core node instance type to one with more memory.
Why it's wrong here
Memory does not affect disk space.
- ✓
Increase the number of core nodes in the cluster.
Why this is correct
More nodes distribute the intermediate data, reducing disk usage per node.
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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.