DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company runs an Amazon ElastiCache for Redis cluster as a caching layer for a high-traffic web application. The cluster has one primary and two replica nodes. Recently, the application experienced increased latency. Monitoring shows that the CPU utilization of the primary node is consistently above 80%, while replicas are below 40%. The application uses the cluster mode disabled. The operations team needs to reduce the CPU load on the primary node. Which solution should they implement?
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
✓
Configure the application to use read replicas for read queries by using the reader endpoint.
Offloading read traffic to replicas reduces CPU load on the primary node. Configuring the application to use the reader endpoint for read queries distributes read operations across replicas, lowering the primary's CPU utilization. Option A (DAX) is unrelated to ElastiCache Redis. Option B (vertical scaling) may help but is often more expensive and does not leverage replicas. Option D (adding replicas) does not reduce primary CPU unless reads are directed to them.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement a read-through cache pattern using DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX).
Why it's wrong here
DAX is for DynamoDB, not ElastiCache.
- ✗
Upgrade the primary node to a larger instance type.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up primary adds cost but may not be necessary if read load can be offloaded.
- ✓
Configure the application to use read replicas for read queries by using the reader endpoint.
Why this is correct
Replicas can serve read traffic, lowering primary CPU.
- ✗
Add more replica nodes to the cluster.
Why it's wrong here
Adding replicas does not reduce primary CPU if reads are not directed to them.
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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.