DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
A database team uses Amazon DynamoDB with auto scaling enabled. They observe frequent throttling on a table during peak hours. The table's read capacity is set to 5000 RCU with auto scaling range 3000-7000. The consumed read capacity graph shows spikes to 6000 RCU but throttling occurs at 5500. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
Auto scaling cannot react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes
Auto scaling uses a target utilization (default 70%) and cannot scale fast enough for sudden spikes. Option A is wrong because auto scaling is enabled. Option B is wrong because WCU are separate. Option C is wrong because partition count doesn't directly cause throttling if RCU is sufficient.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Write capacity units are insufficient
Why it's wrong here
Throttling is for read operations.
- ✗
Auto scaling is disabled for the table
Why it's wrong here
Problem says auto scaling is enabled.
- ✗
The table has too many partitions
Why it's wrong here
Partitions don't cause throttling; capacity does.
- ✓
Auto scaling cannot react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes
Why this is correct
Auto scaling has a lag; spikes can exceed provisioned capacity before scaling completes.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DBS-C01 question from scratch — 1,663 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.