DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company is running a critical application on Amazon DynamoDB. The table has a partition key of 'user_id' and a sort key of 'timestamp'. The application frequently queries for all items for a given user within a date range. The read capacity is often throttled during peak hours. Which THREE steps should the database specialist take to resolve the throttling?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates think decreasing WCU can reallocate resources to reads, but DynamoDB's read and write capacity are independent, so reducing one does not benefit the other.
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
✓
Enable DynamoDB adaptive capacity to automatically adjust throughput
DynamoDB adaptive capacity automatically manages throughput to accommodate uneven access patterns, such as when a single 'user_id' partition receives more reads than provisioned. It allows the table to absorb throttling by redistributing unused capacity from other partitions, which directly addresses the peak-hour throttling without manual intervention.
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 DynamoDB adaptive capacity to automatically adjust throughput
Why this is correct
Adaptive capacity helps manage uneven access patterns and reduces throttling.
- ✗
Change the partition key to 'timestamp' to improve read distribution
Why it's wrong here
Changing the partition key would require re-architecting the application and may not solve the issue.
- ✗
Decrease the provisioned write capacity units (WCU) to free up resources for reads
Why it's wrong here
Read and write capacities are separate; decreasing WCU does not affect read throttling.
- ✓
Increase the provisioned read capacity units (RCU) for the table
Why this is correct
Increasing RCU provides more read throughput, reducing throttling.
- ✓
Implement DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache frequent reads
Why this is correct
DAX caches read results, offloading read requests from the table.
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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.