DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company is using Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. The table's read capacity is set to a minimum of 100 and maximum of 1000 read capacity units (RCUs). The actual consumed read capacity is consistently at 200 RCUs. What should the database specialist do to optimize costs without impacting performance?
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
✓
Lower the minimum read capacity to 200 RCUs.
Lowering the minimum read capacity to 200 RCUs matches the actual consumption, preventing over-provisioning when auto scaling scales down. This reduces costs without affecting performance, as the capacity remains sufficient for the consistent workload. Option A is incorrect because increasing the minimum would raise costs unnecessarily. Option C is incorrect because disabling auto scaling removes the ability to handle traffic spikes automatically. Option D is incorrect because decreasing the maximum could cause throttling during unexpected demand spikes.
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 minimum read capacity to 500 RCUs.
Why it's wrong here
Would increase costs unnecessarily.
- ✓
Lower the minimum read capacity to 200 RCUs.
Why this is correct
Matches the actual consumption, preventing over-provisioning.
- ✗
Disable auto scaling and set the read capacity to 200 RCUs.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling auto scaling removes elasticity for traffic variations.
- ✗
Decrease the maximum read capacity to 500 RCUs.
Why it's wrong here
May cause throttling during traffic spikes.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,663 original DBS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on DBS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. The table's write capacity is set to a minimum of 50 and maximum of 500 write capacity units (WCUs). The actual consumed write capacity is consistently at 100 WCUs. What should the database specialist do to optimize costs without impacting performance?
easy- A.Increase the minimum write capacity to 200 WCUs.
- B.Disable auto scaling and set the write capacity to 100 WCUs.
- ✓ C.Lower the minimum write capacity to 100 WCUs.
- D.Decrease the maximum write capacity to 200 WCUs.
Why C: Lower the minimum write capacity to 100 WCUs. With auto scaling enabled and actual consumed write capacity consistently at 100 WCUs, the minimum should match the actual usage to avoid over-provisioning. Setting it to 100 WCUs ensures that baseline capacity is just enough for normal operations, while auto scaling can still scale up to 500 WCUs during traffic spikes. Option A (increasing minimum to 200 WCUs) would raise costs without benefit. Option B (disabling auto scaling and fixing at 100 WCUs) removes the ability to scale up, risking throttling during spikes. Option D (decreasing maximum to 200 WCUs) limits scalability and could cause throttling if traffic exceeds 200 WCUs.
Variation 2. A company is using Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. The table's read capacity is set to a minimum of 100 and maximum of 1000 read capacity units (RCUs). The actual consumed read capacity is consistently at 200 RCUs. What should the database specialist do to optimize costs without impacting performance?
hard- ✓ A.Lower the minimum read capacity to 200 RCUs.
- B.Decrease the maximum read capacity to 500 RCUs.
- C.Disable auto scaling and set the read capacity to 200 RCUs.
- D.Increase the minimum read capacity to 500 RCUs.
Why A: Lowering the minimum to 200 RCUs ensures auto scaling does not scale below the actual usage, reducing provisioned capacity costs. Option B is wrong because decreasing the maximum could cause throttling during spikes. Option C is wrong because disabling auto scaling would require manual management and may lead to over-provisioning or under-provisioning. Option D is wrong because increasing the minimum would increase costs unnecessarily.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DBS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DBS-C01 exam.