The correct actions are to enable Performance Insights and review the slow query log, as these two investigative tools directly pinpoint the queries driving high CPU utilization on an RDS MySQL instance. Performance Insights provides a real-time dashboard that visualizes database load and identifies the top SQL statements consuming the most resources, while the slow query log captures queries with long execution times that often correlate with excessive CPU usage. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your ability to differentiate between investigation and remediation—a common trap is choosing to scale up the instance or modify parameter groups prematurely, which are fixes, not diagnostic steps. Remember the memory tip: “Look before you leap—log and insights before you scale.”
DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and troubleshooting. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 troubleshooting an Amazon RDS for MySQL DB instance that is experiencing high CPU utilization. The DB instance is a db.t3.medium. Which TWO actions should the database administrator take to investigate the cause?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable Performance Insights to identify the top SQL queries consuming CPU.
Option A is correct because enabling Performance Insights helps identify top SQL queries. Option B is correct because reviewing slow query logs helps identify inefficient queries. Option C is wrong because increasing instance size is a fix, not investigation. Option D is wrong because disabling Multi-AZ reduces availability, not CPU. Option E is wrong because modifying parameter groups without analysis is not investigative.
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.
✓
Enable Performance Insights to identify the top SQL queries consuming CPU.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Disable Multi-AZ to reduce overhead.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ does not significantly impact CPU.
✗
Modify the DB parameter group to increase the query cache size.
Why it's wrong here
Changing parameters without analysis is not a diagnostic step.
✗
Increase the DB instance class to a larger size.
Why it's wrong here
This is a remediation, not an investigation step.
✓
Review the slow query log to find queries with long execution times.
Why this is correct
Slow query logs help identify queries that may cause CPU spikes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting — This question tests Monitoring and Troubleshooting — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable Performance Insights to identify the top SQL queries consuming CPU. — Option A is correct because enabling Performance Insights helps identify top SQL queries. Option B is correct because reviewing slow query logs helps identify inefficient queries. Option C is wrong because increasing instance size is a fix, not investigation. Option D is wrong because disabling Multi-AZ reduces availability, not CPU. Option E is wrong because modifying parameter groups without analysis is not investigative.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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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