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Management and Operations →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question

This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of management and operations. 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 using Amazon DynamoDB for a gaming leaderboard. The table has a partition key of 'game_id' and a sort key of 'score'. The application performs a query to retrieve the top 10 scores for a given game_id. The query uses ScanIndexForward: false and Limit: 10. Recently, the query response time has increased. The table's read capacity is 1000 RCU, and the average item size is 1 KB. Which is the most likely cause of the increased latency?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

Question 1hardmultiple choice

Full question →

A
The table lacks a global secondary index on game_id, causing a full table scan.
Why wrong: The table already has game_id as partition key, so queries by game_id are efficient without a GSI.
B
The query is using strongly consistent reads instead of eventually consistent reads.
Why wrong: Strongly consistent reads consume twice the RCU but are not the default; the query uses eventually consistent reads unless specified.
C
The provisioned read capacity is too low for the query pattern.
Why wrong: 1000 RCU is sufficient for 10 items of 1 KB each; the query consumes only a few RCUs.
D
A hot partition on the game_id key is causing throttling for that specific partition.
Even if total RCU is adequate, a single partition can exceed its throughput share, causing throttling and increased latency.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

A hot partition on the game_id key is causing throttling for that specific partition.

The increased latency is most likely due to a hot partition on the 'game_id' key. When a specific game_id receives a disproportionate amount of write or read traffic, that single partition can exceed its throughput limits (1/1000th of provisioned RCU per partition), causing throttling and retries that degrade query response time. Even though the query uses ScanIndexForward: false and Limit: 10, the request is still constrained by the partition's capacity, and throttling at the partition level leads to increased 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.

✗
The table lacks a global secondary index on game_id, causing a full table scan.
Why it's wrong here
The table already has game_id as partition key, so queries by game_id are efficient without a GSI.
✗
The query is using strongly consistent reads instead of eventually consistent reads.
Why it's wrong here
Strongly consistent reads consume twice the RCU but are not the default; the query uses eventually consistent reads unless specified.
✗
The provisioned read capacity is too low for the query pattern.
Why it's wrong here
1000 RCU is sufficient for 10 items of 1 KB each; the query consumes only a few RCUs.
✓
A hot partition on the game_id key is causing throttling for that specific partition.
Why this is correct
Even if total RCU is adequate, a single partition can exceed its throughput share, causing throttling and increased latency.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
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 increased latency is due to insufficient total provisioned capacity (Option C) or a missing index (Option A), but the real issue is uneven workload distribution causing a hot partition, which is a common DynamoDB performance pitfall.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

DynamoDB distributes table data across partitions based on the partition key's hash value. Each partition has a maximum throughput of 3000 RCU or 1000 WCU. When a single game_id (e.g., a popular game) receives all traffic, that partition can throttle requests even if the table's total provisioned capacity is not fully utilized. The query with ScanIndexForward: false and Limit: 10 reads only the top 10 items from the sort key, but if the partition is throttled, the request may be rejected or delayed, causing increased latency. Monitoring CloudWatch metrics like 'ThrottledRequests' and 'ConsumedReadCapacityUnits' per partition can help identify hot partitions.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DBS-C01 question test?

Management and Operations — This question tests Management and Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: A hot partition on the game_id key is causing throttling for that specific partition. — The increased latency is most likely due to a hot partition on the 'game_id' key. When a specific game_id receives a disproportionate amount of write or read traffic, that single partition can exceed its throughput limits (1/1000th of provisioned RCU per partition), causing throttling and retries that degrade query response time. Even though the query uses ScanIndexForward: false and Limit: 10, the request is still constrained by the partition's capacity, and throttling at the partition level leads to increased 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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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