Quick Answer
The answer is to increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream. This resolves DynamoDB write throttling from Lambda consuming Kinesis because each shard drives one concurrent Lambda invocation; adding shards increases concurrency, which naturally reduces the batch size per invocation and spreads the write load across more invocations, easing pressure on the DynamoDB table. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of how Kinesis shard count directly controls Lambda concurrency and, by extension, downstream write throughput—a common trap is to focus on Lambda resources or DynamoDB capacity alone, missing the upstream scaling lever. A useful memory tip is "more shards, less throttling": when you see a ProvisionedThroughputExceededException on DynamoDB writes from a Kinesis-triggered Lambda, first verify you have already increased write capacity, then look to increase shards to distribute the write bursts.
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations and support. 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 to ingest real-time clickstream data. A Lambda function processes each record. Recently, the Lambda function has been failing with 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' when writing results to a DynamoDB table. The data engineer has already increased the DynamoDB write capacity. What else can the engineer do to resolve the issue?
Increase the Lambda function memory.
Why wrong: Memory affects CPU, not DynamoDB write throttling.
Increase the DynamoDB read capacity units.
Why wrong: Read capacity does not affect write throughput.
Decrease the Lambda batch size to 1.
Why wrong: Smaller batches may increase per-record overhead and throttling.
Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream.
More shards distribute the load across more Lambda invocations.
Answer choices
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 stream.
Option B is correct because increasing the number of shards increases the number of Lambda concurrent invocations, reducing the batch size per invocation and easing pressure on DynamoDB. Option A is incorrect because increasing Lambda memory does not directly help with throttling. Option C is incorrect because increasing DynamoDB read capacity does not affect writes. Option D is incorrect because reducing batch size may increase throttling frequency.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Increase the Lambda function memory.
Why it's wrong here
Memory affects CPU, not DynamoDB write throttling.
Increase the DynamoDB read capacity units.
Why it's wrong here
Read capacity does not affect write throughput.
Decrease the Lambda batch size to 1.
Why it's wrong here
Smaller batches may increase per-record overhead and throttling.
Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream.
Why this is correct
More shards distribute the load across more Lambda invocations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
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
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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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.
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FAQ
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream. — Option B is correct because increasing the number of shards increases the number of Lambda concurrent invocations, reducing the batch size per invocation and easing pressure on DynamoDB. Option A is incorrect because increasing Lambda memory does not directly help with throttling. Option C is incorrect because increasing DynamoDB read capacity does not affect writes. Option D is incorrect because reducing batch size may increase throttling frequency.
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.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Same concept, more angles
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 uses Amazon Kinesis Data Streams to ingest real-time clickstream data. The consumer application is falling behind and the iterator age is increasing. Which action would most effectively improve throughput?
mediumWhy D: Option C is correct because increasing shards increases parallelism. Option A is wrong because it reduces batch size. Option B is wrong because it doesn't help throughput. Option D is wrong because it adds latency.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 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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