DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company is designing a new application that requires a relational database with strong consistency and support for transactions. The application will be accessed by users worldwide, and the database must provide low-latency reads in multiple regions. The company expects the workload to be unpredictable, with periods of very low activity followed by sudden spikes. They want to minimize operational overhead and only pay for the resources they use. Which AWS database solution should they choose?
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 Aurora Serverless v2 with Aurora Global Database.
Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 is a good choice for unpredictable workloads because it auto-scales capacity based on demand and you pay only for what you use. It also supports Aurora Global Database for low-latency reads in multiple regions. RDS does not have serverless capability. DynamoDB is serverless but not relational. Redshift is for analytics. So the best is Aurora Serverless v2 with Global Database.
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 Redshift with cross-Region snapshots.
Why it's wrong here
Redshift is a data warehouse, not suitable for OLTP workloads with sub-second latency.
- ✓
Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 with Aurora Global Database.
Why this is correct
Aurora Serverless v2 automatically scales capacity, supports ACID transactions, and Global Database provides low-latency multi-region reads.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with read replicas in multiple regions.
Why it's wrong here
RDS is not serverless; you pay for provisioned capacity even when idle, and scaling is manual.
- ✗
Amazon DynamoDB with Global Tables.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is NoSQL, not relational, and does not support complex joins or transactions in the same way.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on DBS-C01
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 is designing a new application that requires a relational database with read replicas for reporting. The application has unpredictable traffic patterns. The company wants to minimize operational overhead and automatically scale compute capacity. Which TWO services should the company consider?
medium- A.Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX)
- B.Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ
- C.Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with read replicas
- ✓ D.Amazon Aurora Serverless v2
- ✓ E.Amazon RDS Proxy
Why D: The company requires a relational database with read replicas for reporting, minimal operational overhead, and automatic scaling of compute capacity. Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 (D) meets all these requirements: it is a relational database compatible with PostgreSQL and MySQL, automatically scales compute capacity based on demand, and supports up to 15 read replicas for reporting workloads. Amazon RDS Proxy (E) provides connection pooling to handle unpredictable traffic patterns efficiently, reducing overhead and improving scalability. Together, these two services fulfill the requirements without the need for an additional database instance, making option C unnecessary.
Variation 2. A company is designing a new application that requires a relational database with sub-millisecond read latency for a global user base. The workload is read-heavy with occasional writes. Which database solution should they choose?
medium- A.Amazon DynamoDB with DAX
- B.Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ
- ✓ C.Amazon Aurora with Auto Scaling
- D.Amazon ElastiCache for Redis
Why C: Amazon Aurora with Auto Scaling is the correct choice because it provides a relational database (MySQL/PostgreSQL-compatible) with sub-millisecond read latency via its distributed storage layer and read replicas. The read-heavy workload benefits from Aurora's automatic scaling of read capacity, while occasional writes are efficiently handled by the cluster volume. Aurora's architecture decouples compute and storage, enabling fast failover and consistent performance for global users.
JA
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.