Quick Answer
The answer is ReadLatency and WriteLatency, as these two metrics directly measure the time taken for I/O operations to complete, making them the definitive indicators for detecting I/O bottlenecks. When either value spikes, it signals that the storage subsystem is struggling to keep up with demand, often due to exhausted provisioned IOPS or contention on the underlying EBS volume. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this concept tests your ability to distinguish between performance metrics and capacity metrics—a common trap is confusing FreeStorageSpace or DatabaseConnections with I/O performance. Remember that latency is about speed, not space or connections. A useful memory tip is “Latency tells you the pain, capacity tells you the gain”—if you see high read or write latency, you’re looking at an I/O bottleneck, not a storage shortage.
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and troubleshooting. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is running a production Amazon RDS for Oracle DB instance. The database specialist is setting up monitoring to detect and troubleshoot performance issues. Which TWO metrics should be used to identify whether the database is experiencing I/O bottlenecks?
DatabaseConnections
Why wrong: Number of connections does not directly indicate I/O performance.
CPUUtilization
Why wrong: CPU utilization indicates compute, not I/O.
ReadLatency
High read latency indicates I/O bottlenecks on reads.
WriteLatency
High write latency indicates I/O bottlenecks on writes.
FreeStorageSpace
Why wrong: Free storage space indicates capacity, not performance.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
ReadLatency
ReadLatency and WriteLatency directly measure the time taken for I/O operations. High values indicate I/O bottlenecks. DatabaseConnections and CPUUtilization measure other resources. FreeStorageSpace indicates storage capacity, not performance.
Key principle: ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
DatabaseConnections
Why it's wrong here
Number of connections does not directly indicate I/O performance.
CPUUtilization
Why it's wrong here
CPU utilization indicates compute, not I/O.
ReadLatency
Why this is correct
High read latency indicates I/O bottlenecks on reads.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
WriteLatency
Why this is correct
High write latency indicates I/O bottlenecks on writes.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
FreeStorageSpace
Why it's wrong here
Free storage space indicates capacity, not performance.
Common exam traps
ACLs are processed top to bottom. The first matching entry wins, and an implicit deny usually exists at the end.
Detailed technical explanation
ACL questions test precision: source, destination, protocol, port and direction. A generally correct ACL can still fail if it is applied on the wrong interface or in the wrong direction.
Key takeaway
ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related DBS-C01 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
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FAQ
Monitoring and Troubleshooting — This question tests Monitoring and Troubleshooting — Standard ACLs match source addresses..
The correct answer is: ReadLatency — ReadLatency and WriteLatency directly measure the time taken for I/O operations. High values indicate I/O bottlenecks. DatabaseConnections and CPUUtilization measure other resources. FreeStorageSpace indicates storage capacity, not performance.
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related DBS-C01 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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