DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company runs a critical Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. They notice that the 'DiskQueueDepth' metric is consistently high and the 'FreeStorageSpace' is below 10%. The database is used for OLTP workloads. What is the MOST immediate action to take?
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
✓
Modify the DB instance to increase allocated storage.
Increasing allocated storage quickly addresses the low free storage space (below 10%) and high DiskQueueDepth, which indicates I/O bottlenecks due to insufficient storage. Option A is wrong because upgrading to a larger instance class improves memory and CPU but does not directly resolve storage shortage or I/O throttling caused by low disk space. Option C is wrong because switching to Provisioned IOPS improves latency and throughput but does not increase storage capacity. Option D is wrong because creating a read replica offloads read traffic but does not increase storage on the primary instance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Upgrade to a larger DB instance class.
Why it's wrong here
A larger instance class provides more CPU/memory but does not directly increase storage.
- ✓
Modify the DB instance to increase allocated storage.
Why this is correct
Increasing storage immediately addresses the low free space and can reduce disk queue depth by allowing more I/O operations.
- ✗
Switch the instance to Provisioned IOPS storage.
Why it's wrong here
Provisioned IOPS helps I/O performance but does not free up storage space.
- ✗
Create a read replica to offload read traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas do not increase storage on the primary instance.
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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.