DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
A company uses Amazon DynamoDB with provisioned capacity. The application team reports occasional ProvisionedThroughputExceededException errors. The database administrator notices that the errors occur during periods of high traffic. What is the most cost-effective way to handle these errors without over-provisioning capacity?
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
✓
Implement exponential backoff and retry logic in the application.
Implementing exponential backoff and retry logic allows the application to handle throttling errors gracefully by retrying requests after a delay, which is the most cost-effective solution as it avoids over-provisioning capacity. Option A is incorrect because increasing capacity to peak levels is costly and inefficient. Option B is incorrect because DAX is a caching layer that reduces read load but does not help with write throttling or prevent ProvisionedThroughputExceededException errors for writes. Option D is incorrect because switching to on-demand capacity mode can be more expensive for predictable traffic patterns, and the question asks for the most cost-effective approach without over-provisioning.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the provisioned read and write capacity to the peak traffic level.
Why it's wrong here
Over-provisioning is costly and not cost-effective.
- ✗
Use DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache frequently accessed items.
Why it's wrong here
DAX helps with read performance but does not address write capacity exhaustion.
- ✓
Implement exponential backoff and retry logic in the application.
Why this is correct
Exponential backoff retries handle throttling errors efficiently without over-provisioning.
- ✗
Switch to on-demand capacity mode.
Why it's wrong here
On-demand is cost-effective for unpredictable traffic, but for predictable traffic, provisioned with proper retry logic may be cheaper.
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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.