DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of workload-specific database design. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is running a MySQL database on Amazon RDS for a web application. The application experiences read-heavy traffic, and the company wants to improve read performance without changing the application code. Which design should the database specialist recommend?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create one or more read replicas of the RDS DB instance.
Option B is correct because Amazon RDS read replicas allow you to offload read traffic from the primary DB instance without any application code changes. The application simply connects to the read replica endpoint(s) for SELECT queries, while writes continue to the primary instance. This directly addresses the read-heavy workload by distributing read requests across multiple copies of the database.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Implement an Amazon ElastiCache Redis cluster in front of the database.
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache requires application code changes to cache query results.
✓
Create one or more read replicas of the RDS DB instance.
Why this is correct
Read replicas offload read traffic from the primary instance, improving read performance without application changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Increase the instance size of the RDS DB instance.
Why it's wrong here
Vertical scaling may improve performance but is not the most cost-effective or targeted solution for read-heavy workloads.
✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for the RDS instance.
Why it's wrong here
DAX is a caching service for DynamoDB, not for RDS MySQL.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse read replicas with caching solutions like ElastiCache, but the key constraint is 'without changing the application code' — read replicas require only a connection string change, whereas caching requires code modifications to implement cache logic.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon RDS read replicas use MySQL's native asynchronous replication to maintain a consistent copy of the database. The replica can be promoted to a standalone instance in case of primary failure, but during normal operation it serves read traffic with minimal replication lag (typically sub-second). In a real-world scenario, you can create multiple read replicas and use a Route 53 weighted record set or a connection pool like ProxySQL to distribute reads, achieving linear read scaling without application changes.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Workload-Specific Database Design — This question tests Workload-Specific Database Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create one or more read replicas of the RDS DB instance. — Option B is correct because Amazon RDS read replicas allow you to offload read traffic from the primary DB instance without any application code changes. The application simply connects to the read replica endpoint(s) for SELECT queries, while writes continue to the primary instance. This directly addresses the read-heavy workload by distributing read requests across multiple copies of the database.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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