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Question 269 of 1,786

Data Ingestion and Transformation →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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.

A
Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15.
Each shard provides 1 MB/s write capacity; 15 shards would support 15 MB/s.
B
Decrease the batch size of the Lambda event source mapping.
Why wrong: Batch size affects processing, not write throughput.
C
Increase the Lambda function's memory allocation to 3008 MB.
Why wrong: Memory allocation does not impact Kinesis throughput.
D
Increase the Lambda function's reserved concurrency.
Why wrong: Lambda concurrency does not affect Kinesis write capacity.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 shards in the Kinesis data stream to 15.

The ProvisionedThroughputExceededException indicates that the total write throughput to the Kinesis stream is exceeding the provisioned capacity. With 10 shards, the maximum write throughput is 10 MB/s (1 MB/s per shard). The incoming data rate is 15 MB/s, which exceeds this limit, causing the error. Increasing the shard count to 15 raises the write throughput to 15 MB/s, matching the incoming rate and resolving the issue.

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

The trap here is that candidates may focus on Lambda-side fixes (batch size, memory, concurrency) instead of recognizing that the error originates from the Kinesis stream's throughput capacity, which must be scaled horizontally by increasing shards.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Kinesis Data Streams enforces a per-shard write limit of 1 MB/s or 1,000 records per second, whichever is hit first. With an average record size of 5 KB, the 15 MB/s data rate translates to 3,000 records per second, which exceeds the 1,000 records per second per shard limit even if the MB/s limit were not hit. This dual constraint means that simply matching the MB/s rate with shards may not suffice if the record count per second is also exceeded; however, in this scenario, 15 shards provide 15 MB/s and 15,000 records per second, covering both limits.

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.

TExam Day Tips

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.

Visual reference

Quick reference

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Storage Class	Min Duration	Retrieval	Use Case
S3 Standard	None	Immediate	Frequently accessed data
S3 Standard-IA	30 days	Immediate	Infrequent access, rapid retrieval
S3 One Zone-IA	30 days	Immediate	Non-critical infrequent data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering	None	Immediate–hours	Unknown or changing access patterns
S3 Glacier Instant	90 days	Milliseconds	Archive with instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible	90 days	Minutes–hours	Archive, flexible retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive	180 days	Hours	Long-term compliance archive

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DEA-C01 question test?

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. — The ProvisionedThroughputExceededException indicates that the total write throughput to the Kinesis stream is exceeding the provisioned capacity. With 10 shards, the maximum write throughput is 10 MB/s (1 MB/s per shard). The incoming data rate is 15 MB/s, which exceeds this limit, causing the error. Increasing the shard count to 15 raises the write throughput to 15 MB/s, matching the incoming rate and resolving the issue.

What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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.

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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.