The answer is to monitor Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the ElastiCache cluster to identify the cause of the high CPU utilization. This is correct because CloudWatch provides essential metrics like CPUUtilization and CacheHits, which allow you to correlate the CPU spike with cache efficiency—a sudden drop in CacheHits often forces Redis to recompute data, driving up CPU usage and latency. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between diagnostic actions and remedial solutions; a common trap is jumping to scale the node size (Option B) before confirming the root cause, which wastes resources if the issue is a cache miss storm or a poorly optimized query pattern. Remember, ElastiCache lacks a built-in query profiler, so CloudWatch metrics are your first diagnostic tool. Memory tip: “Diagnose before you resize—check the CloudWatch eyes.”
DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and troubleshooting. 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 uses Amazon ElastiCache for Redis as a caching layer for a web application. They observe a sudden increase in CPU utilization on the cache cluster, and the application experiences higher latency. Which action should be taken to diagnose the issue?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Monitor Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the ElastiCache cluster to identify the cause.
Option A is correct because CloudWatch metrics like CPUUtilization and CacheHits are the first step to diagnose. Option B is wrong because increasing node size is a solution, not a diagnostic step. Option C is wrong because ElastiCache does not have a built-in query profiler. Option D is wrong because disabling persistence is unrelated.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 query profiling on the ElastiCache cluster.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. ElastiCache does not offer a query profiling feature.
✓
Monitor Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the ElastiCache cluster to identify the cause.
Why this is correct
Correct. CloudWatch metrics provide insight into CPU usage, cache hits/misses, and other performance indicators.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Disable persistence to reduce CPU overhead.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Persistence is not necessarily the cause; disabling it may lead to data loss.
✗
Immediately scale up to a larger node type.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Scaling is a remedial action, not diagnostic. First diagnose the root cause.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting — This question tests Monitoring and Troubleshooting — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Monitor Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the ElastiCache cluster to identify the cause. — Option A is correct because CloudWatch metrics like CPUUtilization and CacheHits are the first step to diagnose. Option B is wrong because increasing node size is a solution, not a diagnostic step. Option C is wrong because ElastiCache does not have a built-in query profiler. Option D is wrong because disabling persistence is unrelated.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses Amazon ElastiCache for Redis as a caching layer for a web application. They notice increased latency and cache miss rates. The cache cluster has 5 nodes with replication. Which metric should be monitored to identify if the cache is under-provisioned?
medium
A.ReplicationLag
B.CacheHits
✓ C.CPUUtilization
D.Evictions
Why C: Option A is correct because high CPUUtilization indicates the cache nodes are overloaded. Option B is wrong because CacheHits are a measure of effectiveness, not provisioning. Option C is wrong because Evictions occur when memory is full but CPU is more direct for throughput. Option D is wrong because ReplicationLag indicates replication issues, not capacity.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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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.
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