The answer is to upgrade the cluster to a node type with more memory, such as ra3.xlplus. This is correct because when Redshift queries use disk for temporary storage, it indicates memory pressure, forcing the query engine to spill intermediate results to disk rather than keeping them in RAM. These disk spills dramatically slow performance, so increasing per-node memory directly reduces the need for temporary storage on disk. On the AWS Certified Database Specialty DBS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Redshift’s memory architecture and the difference between scaling out (adding nodes) versus scaling up (more memory per node). A common trap is choosing to increase the number of nodes, but that does not fix per-node memory shortages. Remember the mnemonic: “Spills to disk? Memory’s the risk—scale up, not out, to cut the doubt.”
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 Redshift for data warehousing. The data engineering team notices that queries are taking longer than expected. The cluster has two nodes of type dc2.large. The database specialist checks the system tables and finds that many queries are using the disk for temporary storage. Which action should the specialist take to improve query performance?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Upgrade the cluster to a node type with more memory, such as ra3.xlplus.
Option B is correct because the need for temporary storage on disk indicates insufficient memory. Upgrading to a node type with more memory (such as ra3 nodes) reduces disk spills. Option A is wrong because increasing the number of nodes does not increase per-node memory. Option C is wrong because adding distribution keys may not reduce memory usage. Option D is wrong because enabling concurrency scaling does not address memory issues.
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.
✗
Add distribution keys to the tables to improve data distribution.
Why it's wrong here
Distribution keys affect data distribution, not memory availability.
✗
Enable concurrency scaling to offload queries to additional clusters.
Why it's wrong here
Concurrency scaling does not increase memory per node.
✗
Increase the number of nodes to three to distribute the workload.
Why it's wrong here
Adding nodes increases parallelism but per-node memory stays the same.
✓
Upgrade the cluster to a node type with more memory, such as ra3.xlplus.
Why this is correct
More memory reduces the need for disk-based operations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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.
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: Upgrade the cluster to a node type with more memory, such as ra3.xlplus. — Option B is correct because the need for temporary storage on disk indicates insufficient memory. Upgrading to a node type with more memory (such as ra3 nodes) reduces disk spills. Option A is wrong because increasing the number of nodes does not increase per-node memory. Option C is wrong because adding distribution keys may not reduce memory usage. Option D is wrong because enabling concurrency scaling does not address memory issues.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using Amazon Redshift for data warehousing. The data engineering team notices that queries are running slower than expected. CloudWatch shows that 'CPUUtilization' is high and 'DiskSpaceUsage' is also high. The cluster has 4 dc2.large nodes. What is the most likely cause of the performance degradation?
medium
A.Insufficient network bandwidth between nodes
B.CPU is the bottleneck and needs more compute nodes
C.Workload management (WLM) queue is causing query waits
✓ D.Queries are spilling to disk due to insufficient memory
Why D: Option B is correct because high disk usage on dc2 nodes indicates that the cluster is spilling to disk due to insufficient memory. Option A is wrong because network throughput is not indicated. Option C is wrong because WLM queue waits would show in other metrics. Option D is wrong because high CPU alone does not explain disk usage.
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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.
Question Discussion
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