DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company is using Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to cache frequently accessed data from an RDS MySQL database. The cache hit ratio is currently 85%. The operations team notices that during traffic spikes, the cache eviction rate increases significantly, and the database CPU utilization spikes. The cache cluster uses a single r6g.large node. Which THREE actions should the team take to improve performance? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates think reducing TTL (option B) helps free memory faster, but in reality it increases cache misses and database load, making the problem worse during spikes.
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
✓
Add more shards to the cluster to increase total memory.
Adding more shards to the cluster increases the total available memory, which reduces the frequency of evictions during traffic spikes. With more memory, the cache can store more data without forcing out existing entries, thereby maintaining a higher cache hit ratio and reducing the load on the RDS MySQL database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Add more shards to the cluster to increase total memory.
Why this is correct
More shards increase aggregate memory and distribute load.
- ✗
Reduce the time-to-live (TTL) for cached items to free up memory faster.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing TTL would increase cache misses and database load, worsening the problem.
- ✓
Enable cluster mode to distribute data across multiple shards.
Why this is correct
Cluster mode allows horizontal scaling, increasing total memory and reducing eviction pressure.
- ✓
Increase the node type to a larger instance class, such as r6g.2xlarge.
Why this is correct
A larger node provides more memory, reducing evictions.
- ✗
Configure the cache to use lazy loading only for write-through operations.
Why it's wrong here
Lazy loading is a caching pattern, not a scaling solution to handle evictions.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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