DEA-C01 ProvisionedThroughputExceededException Practice Question
A data engineer is monitoring an Amazon Kinesis Data Stream with a shard count of 10. The stream receives 5 MB/s of write traffic and 10 MB/s of read traffic. The engineer notices that writes are throttled with ProvisionedThroughputExceededException errors. Which action should the engineer take to resolve the throttling?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may think that because total write capacity (10 MB/s) exceeds write traffic (5 MB/s), throttling should not occur. However, uneven partition key distribution creates hot shards that exceed the 1 MB/s per shard limit. The trap is to assume increasing shard count is the only fix, but auto-scaling (on-demand mode) automatically handles such imbalances.
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 auto-scaling on the stream.
ProvisionedThroughputExceededException occurs when a shard's write throughput exceeds 1 MB/s, often due to hot shards from uneven partition key distribution. While increasing shard count (Option A) can help spread the load, it does not automatically fix the root cause if partition keys remain skewed. The best action is to configure auto-scaling (Option D), which in Amazon Kinesis Data Streams can be achieved by switching to on-demand mode. On-demand mode automatically scales capacity based on traffic patterns, eliminating throttling without manual intervention. Option B decreases write capacity, worsening the issue. Option C only improves read throughput, not write.
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 shard count to 20.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Increasing shard count from 10 to 20 doubles write capacity, but if partition keys are uneven, hot shards may still occur. This action does not guarantee resolution of throttling.
- ✗
Decrease the shard count to 5.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Decreasing shard count reduces write capacity to 5 MB/s, which is the exact write traffic, leaving no headroom and likely causing more throttling.
- ✗
Enable enhanced fan-out on the stream.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Enhanced fan-out increases per-shard read throughput to 2 MB/s but does not affect write limits, so it does not resolve write throttling.
- ✓
Configure auto-scaling on the stream.
Why this is correct
Correct. Configuring auto-scaling, such as switching to on-demand mode, allows Kinesis Data Streams to automatically adjust capacity based on traffic, mitigating hot shards and eliminating ProvisionedThroughputExceededException.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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