How to Fix Kinesis Throughput Errors by Increasing Shards
A company uses Kinesis Data Streams to ingest real-time clickstream data. The data is processed by a Lambda function that writes to an S3 bucket. Recently, the Lambda function has been failing with 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' errors. Which action should be taken to resolve this issue?
Quick Answer
The correct action is to increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream. This resolves the ProvisionedThroughputExceededException because each shard has a fixed read throughput limit of 2 MB per second or 5 read transactions per second, and when your Lambda consumer exceeds that per-shard capacity, the stream throttles requests. By adding more shards, you distribute the read load across additional parallel units, raising the total available read throughput for your Lambda function. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Kinesis shard architecture and the relationship between shard count and throughput limits—a common trap is confusing write limits (1 MB/s per shard) with read limits, so always check which direction the error comes from. Remember the memory tip: “More shards, more cards” — each shard is like a lane on a highway; to handle more traffic, you add lanes, not widen the existing ones.
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse ProvisionedThroughputExceededException (a read-side throttling error) with write-side throttling, leading them to choose options like reducing batch size or increasing memory, which do not address the shard-level read throughput limit.
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 stream.
The 'ProvisionedThroughputExceededException' error indicates that the Lambda function is reading data from the Kinesis stream faster than the stream's shard-level throughput limits allow. Each shard in a Kinesis Data Stream supports up to 2 MB/s read throughput or 5 read transactions per second. Increasing the number of shards distributes the read load across more shards, raising the total available read throughput and resolving the throttling.
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 Lambda function's memory allocation.
Why it's wrong here
Memory does not affect Kinesis throughput.
- ✓
Increase the number of shards in the Kinesis stream.
Why this is correct
More shards increase throughput capacity.
- ✗
Enable enhanced fan-out for the stream.
Why it's wrong here
Enhanced fan-out reduces latency, not throughput limits.
- ✗
Reduce the batch size in the Lambda event source mapping.
Why it's wrong here
Would reduce processing rate.
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 |
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Variation 1. A company uses AWS Kinesis Data Streams to ingest real-time data. The data engineer notices that the stream's 'WriteProvisionedThroughputExceeded' error occurs frequently during peaks. Which action should be taken to resolve this issue?
medium- ✓ A.Increase the number of shards in the stream.
- B.Modify the producer to use a different partition key.
- C.Compress the data before sending to the stream.
- D.Enable enhanced fan-out for consumers.
Why A: Increasing the number of shards increases the write capacity, directly addressing the throughput exceeded error. Option B is wrong because the error is not from the producer side. Option C is wrong because the error is about write throughput, not read. Option D is wrong because the error is not about data format.
JA
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.