Question 161 of 1,711
DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer is troubleshooting an Amazon DynamoDB table that has frequent throttling exceptions for write requests. The table has auto scaling enabled. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume auto scaling automatically prevents all throttling, but it only adjusts table-level capacity and cannot fix uneven data access patterns like a hot partition.
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
✓
The partition key is causing a hot partition
Auto scaling adjusts capacity based on utilization, but it cannot prevent throttling caused by a hot partition. If a single partition key value receives a disproportionate share of write traffic, that partition's throughput limit (3,000 WCU or 10 MB per partition) is exceeded, triggering ProvisionedThroughputExceededException. Auto scaling operates at the table level, not per partition, so it cannot resolve this imbalance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The partition key is causing a hot partition
Why this is correct
Hot partitions throttle even if overall capacity is sufficient.
- ✗
The table's read capacity is set too low
Why it's wrong here
Throttling is for write requests, not read.
- ✗
The table's auto scaling is disabled
Why it's wrong here
Auto scaling is enabled as per stem.
- ✗
The table is using global tables without conflict resolution
Why it's wrong here
Global tables replicate writes but don't cause throttling.
Visual reference
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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