The answer is CacheMisses, Evictions, and CurrConnections. CacheMisses directly measures the number of requests that failed to find a key in ElastiCache, forcing the application to fall back to the database, which is the core of any cache miss troubleshooting. Evictions indicates keys removed due to memory pressure, often a root cause of increased misses, while CurrConnections reveals whether connection limits are throttling requests and causing cache bypass. On the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between metrics that directly impact cache efficiency versus general system health; a common trap is choosing CPUUtilization or SwapUsage, which are secondary indicators. Remember the mnemonic "MEC" for Misses, Evictions, Connections—the three pillars of ElastiCache performance troubleshooting.
DVA-C02 Troubleshooting and Optimization Practice Question
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of troubleshooting and optimization. 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 is using Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to improve the performance of a high-traffic web application. Recently, the application has been experiencing increased latency. The developer suspects that cache misses are causing the application to read from the database more frequently. Which THREE metrics should the developer examine in Amazon CloudWatch to troubleshoot this issue? (Choose THREE.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
CacheMisses
Option A, option B, and option C are correct. Option A: CacheMisses shows the number of requests that did not find a key in the cache. Option B: Evictions indicates keys removed due to memory pressure, which can cause increased misses. Option C: CurrConnections helps understand if there is a connection bottleneck. Option D (CPUUtilization) is not directly related to cache efficiency. Option E (SwapUsage) indicates memory pressure, which is related to evictions, but CPU is not the best metric for this issue. The three best are CacheMisses, Evictions, and CurrConnections.
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.
✓
CacheMisses
Why this is correct
High cache misses indicate that the cache is not being used effectively, leading to database reads.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Evictions
Why this is correct
Evictions occur when memory is full, causing keys to be removed, which increases cache misses.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
SwapUsage
Why it's wrong here
Swap usage indicates memory pressure, which is related to evictions, but it is not as direct as evictions. The best three are A, B, C.
✓
CurrConnections
Why this is correct
Too many connections can cause connection overhead and latency; if the cache is not properly sized, connections may be throttled.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
CPUUtilization
Why it's wrong here
CPU utilization is not a direct indicator of cache efficiency; it relates to compute load.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DVA-C02 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.
Troubleshooting and Optimization — This question tests Troubleshooting and Optimization — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: CacheMisses — Option A, option B, and option C are correct. Option A: CacheMisses shows the number of requests that did not find a key in the cache. Option B: Evictions indicates keys removed due to memory pressure, which can cause increased misses. Option C: CurrConnections helps understand if there is a connection bottleneck. Option D (CPUUtilization) is not directly related to cache efficiency. Option E (SwapUsage) indicates memory pressure, which is related to evictions, but CPU is not the best metric for this issue. The three best are CacheMisses, Evictions, and CurrConnections.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DVA-C02 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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