The answer is to monitor the CacheHits and CacheMisses CloudWatch metrics, as the Redis cache hit ratio is calculated by dividing CacheHits by the sum of CacheHits and CacheMisses. This ratio directly reflects the effectiveness of your caching layer; a decreasing hit ratio means more requests are falling through to the primary database, which explains the increased latency. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between performance and operational metrics—common traps include confusing Evictions (which shows keys removed due to memory pressure) or CurrConnections (which tracks client load) with the hit ratio. The key insight is that no single metric shows the ratio itself; you must compute it from the pair. Memory tip: think “Hits over Total” for the fraction, and remember that a low ratio means your cache is “missing the mark.”
DBS-C01 Monitoring and Troubleshooting Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and troubleshooting. 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 using Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to cache frequently accessed data. Recently, the application has been experiencing increased latency. The database specialist suspects that the cache hit ratio has decreased. Which CloudWatch metric should the specialist analyze to confirm this suspicion?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Monitor 'CacheHits' and 'CacheMisses' metrics to calculate the hit ratio.
Option A is correct because the cache hit ratio is calculated as CacheHits / (CacheHits + CacheMisses). Option B is wrong because CurrConnections shows current connections. Option C is wrong because Evictions shows number of evicted keys. Option D is wrong because ReplicationLag shows replication delay.
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.
✗
Monitor the 'CurrConnections' metric to see if there are too many connections.
Why it's wrong here
CurrConnections shows the number of connections, not cache hit ratio.
✗
Monitor the 'Evictions' metric to see if keys are being evicted.
Why it's wrong here
Evictions indicate memory pressure, not directly cache hit ratio.
✓
Monitor 'CacheHits' and 'CacheMisses' metrics to calculate the hit ratio.
Why this is correct
Cache hit ratio = CacheHits / (CacheHits + CacheMisses).
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Monitor the 'ReplicationLag' metric to check replication delay.
Why it's wrong here
ReplicationLag is for replication health, not cache hit ratio.
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.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
CurrConnections shows the number of connections, not cache hit ratio.
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 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
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.
Monitoring and Troubleshooting — This question tests Monitoring and Troubleshooting — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Monitor 'CacheHits' and 'CacheMisses' metrics to calculate the hit ratio. — Option A is correct because the cache hit ratio is calculated as CacheHits / (CacheHits + CacheMisses). Option B is wrong because CurrConnections shows current connections. Option C is wrong because Evictions shows number of evicted keys. Option D is wrong because ReplicationLag shows replication delay.
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.
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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