DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
A company uses Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. During a sales event, the write capacity consumption increases, but the table does not scale up as expected, resulting in throttled requests. The table has read/write capacity mode set to 'Provisioned' with auto scaling configured. What should the team check first to troubleshoot the issue?
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
✓
Check the target utilization percentage in the auto scaling policy
The target utilization percentage in the auto scaling policy determines when scaling triggers. If set too high (e.g., 90%), the table may not scale until near full consumption, causing throttling during spikes. Option B is incorrect: IAM permissions for the auto scaling role are typically preconfigured and less likely to cause scaling failures—permission issues would appear in CloudTrail, not as a gradual throttling problem. Option C is incorrect: table class (Standard vs. Standard-IA) affects storage costs, not write capacity scaling behavior. Option D is incorrect: while a GSI can throttle if its write capacity is insufficient, the primary table's auto scaling is independent; the question states the table itself does not scale, so the GSI is not the first check.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Check the target utilization percentage in the auto scaling policy
Why this is correct
If target utilization is high (e.g., 90%), scaling may not trigger until sustained high usage.
- ✗
Verify that the auto scaling role has the necessary IAM permissions
Why it's wrong here
If permissions were missing, scaling would never work, but it works partially.
- ✗
Check whether the table class is DynamoDB Standard-IA
Why it's wrong here
Table class does not affect auto scaling behavior.
- ✗
Check if a global secondary index (GSI) has its own write capacity that is throttling
Why it's wrong here
GSI write capacity is independent but auto scaling still applies to the base table.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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