- A
Amazon ElastiCache for Memcached storing posts and tags as key-value pairs.
Why wrong: ElastiCache is not a persistent data store.
- B
Amazon DynamoDB with a Global Secondary Index on the tag attribute.
GSI provides fast query by tag.
- C
Amazon RDS for MySQL with a normalized schema and JOIN queries.
Why wrong: JOINs add latency.
- D
Amazon Neptune with a graph model for tags and posts.
Why wrong: Overkill for simple tag lookup.
Question 1,483 of 1,730
DynamoDB Global Secondary Index for Tag-Based Queries
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of workload-specific database design. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 designing a database for a social media application that stores user posts. Each post can have multiple tags. The workload requires low-latency queries to find all posts with a specific tag. Which database design is most suitable?
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 with a Global Secondary Index on the tag attribute.
Amazon DynamoDB with a Global Secondary Index (GSI) on the tag attribute is the most suitable design because it allows low-latency queries to find all posts with a specific tag without scanning the entire table. The GSI enables efficient querying by tag as a partition key, supporting the required access pattern with consistent single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 ElastiCache for Memcached storing posts and tags as key-value pairs.
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache is not a persistent data store.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB with a Global Secondary Index on the tag attribute.
Why this is correct
GSI provides fast query by tag.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL with a normalized schema and JOIN queries.
Why it's wrong here
JOINs add latency.
- ✗
Amazon Neptune with a graph model for tags and posts.
Why it's wrong here
Overkill for simple tag lookup.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may choose Amazon RDS for MySQL (Option C) due to familiarity with normalized relational designs, overlooking that DynamoDB's GSI provides superior performance and scalability for high-velocity, low-latency tag-based queries without the overhead of JOINs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
DynamoDB's GSI is a sparse index that allows querying on non-primary key attributes with its own provisioned throughput, enabling independent scaling of read/write capacity for the index versus the base table. Under the hood, the GSI replicates data asynchronously, so eventual consistency is the default, but strongly consistent reads can be requested if needed. In a real-world scenario, if a post has multiple tags, the GSI would store multiple index entries (one per tag), allowing a single Query operation on the GSI to return all posts for a given tag with pagination support.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DBS-C01 question test?
Workload-Specific Database Design — This question tests Workload-Specific Database Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon DynamoDB with a Global Secondary Index on the tag attribute. — Amazon DynamoDB with a Global Secondary Index (GSI) on the tag attribute is the most suitable design because it allows low-latency queries to find all posts with a specific tag without scanning the entire table. The GSI enables efficient querying by tag as a partition key, supporting the required access pattern with consistent single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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