The answer is to migrate to io1 or io2 storage with higher provisioned IOPS. This directly resolves the high queue depth and write latency because gp2 storage relies on a burst bucket that depletes under sustained load, whereas io1 and io2 deliver consistent, provisioned IOPS independent of volume size, ensuring the storage subsystem can keep up with the write workload. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of RDS Oracle storage performance trade-offs, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly choose to increase volume size for gp2, not realizing that beyond the burst window, gp2’s baseline IOPS of 3 per GB caps performance. A common memory tip: “gp2 bursts, io1/io2 persists”—if your workload has sustained high writes, provisioned IOPS is the only reliable fix.
DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of workload-specific database design. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
Network Topology
A company is running an Oracle database on Amazon RDS with the configuration shown in the exhibit. The application is experiencing high latency for write operations. The storage is consistently showing high queue depth and write latency. Which change will most improve write performance?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Migrate to io1 or io2 storage with higher provisioned IOPS.
Option D is correct because migrating to io1 or io2 block storage with higher provisioned IOPS directly addresses the root cause of high queue depth and write latency. Unlike gp2, which has a baseline IOPS of 3 per GB (up to 16,000 IOPS at 5,334 GB) and a burst bucket that depletes under sustained load, io1/io2 provide consistent, provisioned IOPS independent of volume size. This ensures the storage subsystem can keep up with the write workload, reducing queue depth and latency.
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.
✗
Increase allocated storage to 1,000 GB to get higher gp2 baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
gp2 baseline IOPS increase linearly with size but may still be insufficient for high write workloads.
✗
Enable storage auto scaling and increase storage throughput to 500 MB/s.
Why it's wrong here
RDS does not have a separate storage throughput setting; it is tied to IOPS and volume type.
✗
Change the DB instance class to db.r5.2xlarge.
Why it's wrong here
Instance class does not affect storage throughput directly.
✓
Migrate to io1 or io2 storage with higher provisioned IOPS.
Why this is correct
Provisioned IOPS storage provides consistent low-latency performance for write-intensive workloads.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume increasing storage size (Option A) or instance class (Option C) will fix I/O bottlenecks, but the real constraint is the gp2 burst model and insufficient provisioned IOPS for sustained write-heavy workloads.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon RDS for Oracle on gp2 uses a credit-based burst model where each volume starts with 5.4 million IOPS credits (enough for 30 minutes at 3,000 IOPS). Once credits are exhausted, performance throttles to the baseline IOPS (3 per GB). For write-heavy workloads, this burst depletion causes queue depth to spike as I/O requests wait. io1/io2 volumes eliminate this by providing a guaranteed IOPS rate (up to 64,000 for io1 and 256,000 for io2 Block Express), with a consistent latency profile under load. Additionally, io2 offers 99.999% durability, making it suitable for production databases.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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: Migrate to io1 or io2 storage with higher provisioned IOPS. — Option D is correct because migrating to io1 or io2 block storage with higher provisioned IOPS directly addresses the root cause of high queue depth and write latency. Unlike gp2, which has a baseline IOPS of 3 per GB (up to 16,000 IOPS at 5,334 GB) and a burst bucket that depletes under sustained load, io1/io2 provide consistent, provisioned IOPS independent of volume size. This ensures the storage subsystem can keep up with the write workload, reducing queue depth and latency.
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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