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Management and Operations →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question

This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of management and operations. 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 uses Amazon DynamoDB for a real-time analytics application. The table is provisioned with 1000 RCU and 500 WCU. Recently, the application experienced throttling on reads during a marketing campaign. The 'ConsumedReadCapacityUnits' metric shows spikes up to 2000 RCU. The 'ReadThrottleEvents' metric is high. The table has a global secondary index (GSI) that is also throttled. The application uses eventually consistent reads. The team wants to minimize costs while preventing throttling. The campaign traffic is predictable and occurs for 2 hours each day. What should the team do?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

A
Increase the provisioned RCU to 2000 permanently.
Why wrong: This would overprovision capacity for most of the day, increasing costs.
B
Implement DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache reads.
Why wrong: DAX reduces read latency but does not reduce RCU consumption; it still consumes RCU for cache misses.
C
Enable auto scaling with a scheduled scaling action to increase RCU during the campaign.
Auto scaling adjusts capacity automatically, and scheduled scaling ensures capacity is ready for the campaign, minimizing cost.
D
Switch the table to on-demand capacity mode.
Why wrong: On-demand is more expensive for predictable workloads because the cost per RCU/WCU is higher.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 auto scaling with a scheduled scaling action to increase RCU during the campaign.

Option C is correct because the traffic is predictable and occurs for 2 hours daily. Scheduled auto scaling can increase RCU during the campaign and reduce it afterward, minimizing cost while preventing throttling. Option A is incorrect because permanently increasing RCU to 2000 would waste capacity during the other 22 hours, increasing costs unnecessarily. Option B is incorrect because DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) adds cost and primarily caches base table reads, not global secondary index reads; the GSI is also throttled, so DAX may not fully resolve the issue, and scheduled scaling is more cost-effective for predictable patterns. Option D is incorrect because on-demand capacity mode is more expensive for predictable, sustained high traffic; auto scaling with a schedule is cheaper for this use case.

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.

✗
Increase the provisioned RCU to 2000 permanently.
Why it's wrong here
This would overprovision capacity for most of the day, increasing costs.
✗
Implement DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache reads.
Why it's wrong here
DAX reduces read latency but does not reduce RCU consumption; it still consumes RCU for cache misses.
✓
Enable auto scaling with a scheduled scaling action to increase RCU during the campaign.
Why this is correct
Auto scaling adjusts capacity automatically, and scheduled scaling ensures capacity is ready for the campaign, minimizing cost.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Switch the table to on-demand capacity mode.
Why it's wrong here
On-demand is more expensive for predictable workloads because the cost per RCU/WCU is higher.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

Underline the problem statement mentally.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

Visual reference

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which DBS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DBS-C01 question test?

Management and Operations — This question tests Management and Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Enable auto scaling with a scheduled scaling action to increase RCU during the campaign. — Option C is correct because the traffic is predictable and occurs for 2 hours daily. Scheduled auto scaling can increase RCU during the campaign and reduce it afterward, minimizing cost while preventing throttling. Option A is incorrect because permanently increasing RCU to 2000 would waste capacity during the other 22 hours, increasing costs unnecessarily. Option B is incorrect because DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) adds cost and primarily caches base table reads, not global secondary index reads; the GSI is also throttled, so DAX may not fully resolve the issue, and scheduled scaling is more cost-effective for predictable patterns. Option D is incorrect because on-demand capacity mode is more expensive for predictable, sustained high traffic; auto scaling with a schedule is cheaper for this use case.

What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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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.