DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A gaming company uses Amazon DynamoDB to store player profiles with partition key player_id. The access pattern is to retrieve profiles for multiple players in a single request. The application currently makes separate GetItem calls, causing high latency. Which design pattern reduces latency and cost?
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that caching (DAX) or indexing (GSI) can solve multi-item retrieval latency, when the actual solution is to reduce the number of API calls using BatchGetItem, which directly targets the root cause of high latency from sequential requests.
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
✓
Use BatchGetItem to retrieve multiple items in one request
BatchGetItem allows you to retrieve up to 100 items or 16 MB of data from multiple tables in a single API call, reducing the number of network round trips compared to individual GetItem calls. This directly addresses the high latency caused by multiple sequential requests and also reduces cost because you pay for read capacity units (RCUs) based on the total item size, not per request overhead.
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 DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX)
Why it's wrong here
DAX reduces latency but still requires multiple calls.
- ✗
Redesign to a single-table design
Why it's wrong here
Does not directly address batch retrieval.
- ✗
Create a global secondary index on player_id
Why it's wrong here
GSI does not reduce multiple get requests.
- ✓
Use BatchGetItem to retrieve multiple items in one request
Why this is correct
BatchGetItem reduces I/O and latency.
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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.