DBS-C01 CloudWatch Metrics for RDS Practice Question
A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. After migration, the application team reports that queries are slower than before. Which metric in CloudWatch should the DBA review first to check if the instance is resource-constrained?
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
✓
CPUUtilization
(CPUUtilization). When migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle, slower queries can indicate resource constraints. CPUUtilization is the primary metric to review first because high CPU usage directly impacts query performance. Option A (SwapUsage) is more relevant for memory pressure but not the first indicator. Option C (FreeableMemory) is important but CPU is typically the first bottleneck. Option D (DatabaseConnections) shows concurrent connections but does not directly measure resource saturation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
SwapUsage
Why it's wrong here
Swap usage indicates memory pressure, but CPU is more likely to be the first issue.
- ✓
CPUUtilization
Why this is correct
High CPU could indicate resource contention affecting query performance.
- ✗
FreeableMemory
Why it's wrong here
Memory pressure is possible, but CPU is often the first bottleneck to check.
- ✗
DatabaseConnections
Why it's wrong here
Connection count does not directly measure resource usage.
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