DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
A developer is troubleshooting a slow query on Amazon RDS for MySQL. The query joins three large tables and runs frequently. What is the most effective way to identify the bottleneck?
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
✓
Enable the slow query log and analyze the output
Enabling the slow query log on RDS for MySQL captures queries that exceed a specified execution time, allowing the developer to identify which queries are slow and analyze their execution plan to find bottlenecks. Option A is wrong because RDS Events are for maintenance and operational notifications, not query performance. Option B is wrong because CloudWatch CPU and memory metrics show overall resource utilization but do not pinpoint specific slow queries. Option D is wrong because migrating to a larger instance may help but does not directly identify the bottleneck; it addresses symptoms rather than root cause analysis.
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 RDS Events for any maintenance notifications
Why it's wrong here
Events do not provide query-level detail.
- ✗
Review Amazon CloudWatch CPU and memory metrics
Why it's wrong here
These metrics are too high-level.
- ✓
Enable the slow query log and analyze the output
Why this is correct
Slow query log records queries that take longer than a set time.
- ✗
Use AWS Database Migration Service to migrate to a larger instance
Why it's wrong here
This is a permanent change, not a diagnostic step.
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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.