DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
A database specialist is investigating a sudden increase in Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL connections. The DB instance's CloudWatch metric DatabaseConnections shows a spike from 100 to 500 within minutes. The application connects using a connection pool. Which step should the specialist take first to mitigate the issue while preserving application availability?
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
✓
Modify the DB parameter group to reduce the max_connections value and reboot the instance to apply changes.
Reducing the max_connections value in the DB parameter group and rebooting the instance will limit the number of concurrent connections, preventing the database from being overwhelmed. This is the fastest way to mitigate the spike while preserving application availability. Option A is wrong because terminating all connections and restarting the database would disrupt the application. Option B is wrong because modifying the security group does not affect the number of connections, only the allowed sources. Option C is wrong because increasing the instance size may take time to provision and does not immediately address the connection spike.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use the RDS console to terminate all active connections and then restart the database.
Why it's wrong here
Terminating all connections disrupts the application and does not address the root cause.
- ✗
Modify the security group to restrict inbound traffic to the database.
Why it's wrong here
Security groups control access, not connection count.
- ✗
Increase the DB instance size to handle more connections.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up takes time and does not immediately reduce the number of connections.
- ✓
Modify the DB parameter group to reduce the max_connections value and reboot the instance to apply changes.
Why this is correct
Lowering max_connections limits the number of concurrent connections, preventing overload.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on DBS-C01
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 DBA is investigating a sudden increase in database connections to an Amazon RDS for SQL Server instance. The application is running on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Which tool can provide real-time information about active connections?
easy- A.AWS Trusted Advisor
- B.VPC Flow Logs
- ✓ C.Amazon RDS Performance Insights
- D.AWS CloudTrail
Why C: Amazon RDS Performance Insights provides real-time information about active database connections and sessions. Option A (AWS Trusted Advisor) is incorrect because it offers best practice recommendations, not connection monitoring. Option B (VPC Flow Logs) is incorrect because they capture network traffic metadata, not database-level connection details. Option D (AWS CloudTrail) is incorrect because it records API calls for auditing, not real-time database connections.
JA
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.