DBS-C01 Deployment and Migration Practice Question
A company is deploying a new web application on AWS. The application uses Amazon RDS for MySQL with a Multi-AZ deployment. The application team wants to reduce latency for read-heavy workloads. Which action should be taken?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Multi-AZ (which provides failover and high availability) with read replicas (which provide read scaling), leading them to incorrectly select Option A or B, thinking that adding Multi-AZ or a larger instance will reduce read latency.
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
✓
Add a read replica in the same Region
Adding a read replica in the same Region offloads read-heavy workloads from the primary RDS instance, reducing latency for read queries because replicas serve read traffic directly. Amazon RDS for MySQL read replicas use asynchronous replication and can be promoted to a primary instance if needed, making this the most effective and cost-efficient solution for read scaling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable Multi-AZ on the existing RDS instance
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ provides high availability, not read scaling.
- ✗
Increase the instance size of the primary RDS instance
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up may help but is not the most effective for read-heavy workloads; read replicas are better.
- ✓
Add a read replica in the same Region
Why this is correct
Read replicas can handle read queries, reducing load on the primary and improving latency.
- ✗
Switch from RDS to Amazon DynamoDB with DAX
Why it's wrong here
This would require significant application changes and is not a simple adjustment.
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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.