DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company is designing a database for an e-commerce platform that stores product catalog data. The catalog has frequent reads and occasional writes. The data is highly relational but the team wants the lowest possible latency for read queries. Which database service should they choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose Amazon RDS with read replicas (Option B) because they see 'highly relational' and assume a relational database is mandatory, but they overlook that DynamoDB can model relational data using single-table design with composite keys and that DAX provides far lower read latency than any disk-based relational database with replicas.
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
✓
Amazon DynamoDB with DAX
Amazon DynamoDB with DAX is the best choice because the workload requires the lowest possible latency for read queries on a highly relational product catalog with frequent reads and occasional writes. DynamoDB provides single-digit millisecond latency at scale, and DAX (DynamoDB Accelerator) is an in-memory cache that reduces read latency to microseconds for eventually consistent reads, directly addressing the low-latency requirement without sacrificing the ability to handle occasional writes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon DocumentDB
Why it's wrong here
DocumentDB is a document database with millisecond latency, not microsecond.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with read replicas
Why it's wrong here
RDS read replicas reduce read load but add replication lag and do not provide microsecond latency.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB with DAX
Why this is correct
DAX provides in-memory acceleration for DynamoDB, delivering microsecond read latency.
- ✗
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache is a caching layer, not a primary database, and would require additional application complexity.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on DBS-C01
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Variation 1. Which TWO of the following are valid considerations when designing a database for an e-commerce application with high read traffic and low write latency requirements?
easy- ✓ A.Use Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to improve read performance.
- B.Store session data in Amazon S3 for fast access.
- C.Use Amazon Redshift to serve read traffic directly.
- ✓ D.Use Amazon ElastiCache to cache frequently accessed data.
- E.Deploy Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ for read scaling.
Why A: Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) is a fully managed, in-memory cache for DynamoDB that delivers up to 10x read performance improvement by reducing response times from milliseconds to microseconds. For an e-commerce application with high read traffic and low write latency requirements, DAX offloads read-heavy workloads from the DynamoDB table, ensuring consistent low-latency reads without impacting write throughput.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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