DVA-C02 Troubleshooting and Optimization Practice Question
A developer notices that an AWS Lambda function is timing out after 3 seconds. The function processes messages from an SQS queue. What is the MOST likely cause of the timeout?
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
✓
The Lambda function timeout is set too low.
The Lambda function is timing out after 3 seconds, which matches the default Lambda timeout. The most likely cause is that the function timeout is set too low (3 seconds) and needs to be increased to accommodate processing time. Option B (SQS visibility timeout) affects message redelivery but not the Lambda execution timeout. Option D (reserved concurrency set to zero) would prevent any invocations, not cause a timeout after 3 seconds. Option A (dead-letter queue not configured) does not cause timeouts; it only affects where failed messages go.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The SQS dead-letter queue is not configured.
Why it's wrong here
DLQ is for storing failed messages after retries, not for timeout issues.
- ✗
The SQS queue visibility timeout is too short.
Why it's wrong here
Visibility timeout affects when messages reappear, not the Lambda execution timeout.
- ✓
The Lambda function timeout is set too low.
Why this is correct
The default timeout is 3 seconds; increasing it resolves the timeout.
- ✗
The Lambda function's reserved concurrency is set to zero.
Why it's wrong here
Reserved concurrency limits concurrent executions, not timeout.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.