DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company has an Amazon DynamoDB table with on-demand capacity mode. The table experiences a sudden spike in traffic, and the application starts receiving ProvisionedThroughputExceededException errors. What is the most likely cause?
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 traffic spike exceeded the previous peak traffic by more than double in a short period
DynamoDB on-demand capacity mode can throttle requests if the traffic spike exceeds the previous peak traffic by more than double within a short period. This is due to the adaptive capacity mechanism that requires time to scale. Option A is wrong because on-demand mode does not have provisioned read/write capacity units. Option B is wrong because on-demand mode does not have a maximum number of capacity units; it scales automatically but with a ramp-up limit. Option D is wrong because Auto Scaling is not applicable to on-demand mode; it uses a different scaling model.
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 provisioned read capacity units are insufficient
Why it's wrong here
On-demand mode does not use provisioned capacity.
- ✗
The table has reached the maximum number of read capacity units
Why it's wrong here
On-demand mode has no maximum limit, but can throttle if traffic spikes too quickly.
- ✓
The traffic spike exceeded the previous peak traffic by more than double in a short period
Why this is correct
DynamoDB on-demand mode uses a token bucket algorithm; sudden huge spikes can cause throttling.
- ✗
Auto Scaling is not configured to increase capacity
Why it's wrong here
On-demand mode automatically handles scaling.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DBS-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 DBS-C01 exam.