DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of workload-specific database design. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The application uses Amazon RDS for MySQL. Recently, the database CPU utilization spikes to 100% during peak hours. The team observes that the spike is caused by a large number of slow queries. They need to identify and resolve the issue with minimal disruption. Which combination of steps should they take? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable RDS Performance Insights to identify the slow queries
Option B: Enabling RDS Performance Insights helps identify the slow queries and their resource consumption. Option D: Creating a read replica for reporting queries offloads read traffic from the primary, reducing CPU load. Option A is not a quick identification step. Option C is a long-term solution. Option E is not directly helpful for identifying slow queries.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Enable RDS Performance Insights to identify the slow queries
Why this is correct
Performance Insights provides a dashboard to analyze database performance and identify problematic queries.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Upgrade to a larger instance type
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up may help temporarily but does not address the root cause; it is a reactive measure.
✗
Increase the DB instance storage to improve I/O
Why it's wrong here
Storage increase does not reduce CPU utilization.
✓
Create a read replica and direct reporting queries to the replica
Why this is correct
Offloading reporting queries reduces load on the primary instance, alleviating CPU spikes.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Implement connection pooling using Amazon RDS Proxy
Why it's wrong here
RDS Proxy manages connections but does not directly identify or resolve slow queries.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related DBS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Workload-Specific Database Design — This question tests Workload-Specific Database Design — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable RDS Performance Insights to identify the slow queries — Option B: Enabling RDS Performance Insights helps identify the slow queries and their resource consumption. Option D: Creating a read replica for reporting queries offloads read traffic from the primary, reducing CPU load. Option A is not a quick identification step. Option C is a long-term solution. Option E is not directly helpful for identifying slow queries.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related DBS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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