DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company runs a MySQL-compatible database on Amazon RDS for a mission-critical application. The database experiences high write latency due to frequent index updates. The team wants to redesign the database to reduce write amplification and improve insert performance. Which TWO design changes could help?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse scaling up (Option C) with optimizing write patterns, or assume that removing indexes (Option D) is the only way to reduce write amplification, when batch operations directly address the per-row overhead without sacrificing query 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
✓
Use batch INSERT statements instead of single-row inserts
Batch INSERT statements reduce the overhead of per-row index updates by combining multiple rows into a single transaction. This minimizes the number of index tree traversals and log flushes, directly lowering write amplification and improving insert throughput in InnoDB.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Switch the storage engine from InnoDB to MyISAM
Why it's wrong here
MyISAM lacks transaction support and is not recommended for production.
- ✓
Use batch INSERT statements instead of single-row inserts
Why this is correct
Batch inserts reduce transaction overhead and log I/O.
- ✗
Upgrade to a larger RDS instance class
Why it's wrong here
More CPU/memory may not reduce write amplification caused by index maintenance.
- ✓
Remove unused or redundant indexes
Why this is correct
Fewer indexes mean less work during writes.
- ✗
Normalize the database schema to reduce data redundancy
Why it's wrong here
Normalization can reduce redundancy but may increase joins; it does not directly reduce write amplification from index updates.
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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.