DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A mobile gaming company needs a database to store player scores and leaderboards. The data must be updated in real time as players finish games. The database must support high write throughput and provide sub-millisecond read latency for leaderboard queries. Which database is best suited?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose ElastiCache for Redis (Option C) because of its sub-millisecond latency, but they overlook the requirement for a durable database that persists player scores and leaderboards, which Redis does not guarantee without additional configuration and risk of data loss.
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
✓
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon DynamoDB is the best choice because it is a fully managed NoSQL key-value and document database designed for single-digit millisecond read and write performance at any scale. Its DAX (DynamoDB Accelerator) caching layer can further reduce read latency to sub-millisecond for leaderboard queries, while its auto-scaling write capacity handles the high write throughput required for real-time player score updates.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL with read replicas
Why it's wrong here
RDS does not provide sub-millisecond read latency and read replicas add lag.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift
Why it's wrong here
Redshift is a data warehouse for analytical queries, not real-time updates.
- ✗
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache is a caching layer, not a durable primary database.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB
Why this is correct
DynamoDB offers consistent single-digit millisecond latency and high throughput.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DBS-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 1,663-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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.