The answer is to change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1 or io2). This is correct because a BurstBalance of 0% on a gp2 volume means the storage exhausted its burst credits, causing I/O throttling that elevated ReadLatency and WriteLatency, which in turn delayed the MySQL failover beyond the expected 1-2 minutes. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that gp2 performance relies on burst credits, while Provisioned IOPS delivers consistent throughput regardless of workload spikes—a common trap is confusing compute scaling (larger instances) with storage I/O performance. Remember: when burst credits are empty, only provisioned IOPS can keep the database fast. Memory tip: “Zero burst = IOPS first.”
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 runs a critical e-commerce application on Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ enabled. The database is 2 TB and uses General Purpose (gp2) storage. Recently, during peak hours, the application experienced a 5-minute outage. The CloudWatch logs show that the primary DB instance failed and an automatic failover occurred. However, the failover took 3 minutes, which is longer than the expected 1-2 minutes. The 'ReadLatency' and 'WriteLatency' metrics were elevated before the failure. The 'BurstBalance' metric was at 0% for the hour before the failure. The team suspects the issue is related to storage performance. What should the team do to prevent this issue in the future?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1).
Option D is correct because the BurstBalance at 0% indicates the gp2 volume exhausted its burst credits, leading to I/O throttling and increased latency, which likely caused the failover. Switching to Provisioned IOPS (io1/io2) provides consistent performance. Option A is wrong because increasing instance size does not directly address storage I/O performance. Option B is wrong because increasing backup retention does not affect storage performance. Option C is wrong because additional read replicas do not improve write performance on the primary.
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 DB instance class to a larger size.
Why it's wrong here
Instance class affects CPU and memory, but the issue is storage IOPS exhaustion.
✓
Change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1).
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Increase the backup retention period to 35 days.
Why it's wrong here
Backup retention does not affect storage performance.
✗
Create a read replica to offload read traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas do not improve write performance on the primary.
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 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
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.
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: Change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1). — Option D is correct because the BurstBalance at 0% indicates the gp2 volume exhausted its burst credits, leading to I/O throttling and increased latency, which likely caused the failover. Switching to Provisioned IOPS (io1/io2) provides consistent performance. Option A is wrong because increasing instance size does not directly address storage I/O performance. Option B is wrong because increasing backup retention does not affect storage performance. Option C is wrong because additional read replicas do not improve write performance on the primary.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 question wrong?
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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