DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company is using Amazon DynamoDB for a high-traffic web application. The table has on-demand capacity mode. During a marketing event, the application experiences throttling. Which TWO actions should the database specialist take to prevent throttling in future events?
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
✓
Pre-create a DynamoDB global table to distribute write traffic.
Options C and E are correct. Option C: Pre-creating a DynamoDB global table can distribute write traffic across multiple regions, reducing the load on any single table and helping to prevent throttling during traffic spikes. Option E: Implementing DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) offloads read traffic from the main table, reducing read capacity consumption and potential throttling. Option A is incorrect because on-demand mode does not use read capacity units; it scales automatically. Option B is incorrect because switching to provisioned capacity requires capacity planning and does not automatically prevent throttling. Option D is incorrect because decreasing write capacity would likely worsen throttling.
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 the read capacity units of the table.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing read capacity units (RCUs) is ineffective because the table uses on-demand capacity mode, which automatically scales and does not utilise RCUs. Throttling in on-demand typically occurs when traffic surges beyond double the previous peak within 30 minutes, or hits service quotas. This option is tempting as RCUs directly control read throughput in provisioned capacity mode, where increasing them would prevent read throttling.
- ✗
Switch the table to provisioned capacity mode and increase write capacity units.
Why it's wrong here
On-demand mode already scales, but switching to provisioned may still throttle if not correctly sized.
- ✓
Pre-create a DynamoDB global table to distribute write traffic.
Why this is correct
Global tables spread writes across regions, reducing throttling.
- ✗
Decrease the write capacity units to reduce throttling.
Why it's wrong here
Decreasing capacity would worsen throttling.
- ✓
Implement DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to offload read traffic.
Why this is correct
DAX caches reads, reducing the number of read requests to the table.
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