DVA-C02 Troubleshooting and Optimization Practice Question
Which TWO services can be used to store and retrieve application configuration data in AWS? (Choose 2)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often select DynamoDB (Option D) because it can store key-value data, but the question asks for services 'used to store and retrieve application configuration data'—DynamoDB is a general-purpose database, not a dedicated configuration service, and AWS offers purpose-built services (Parameter Store and AppConfig) that are the correct answers.
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
✓
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store (Option C) is a managed service specifically designed to store and retrieve application configuration data, such as database connection strings, passwords, and license keys. It integrates with AWS KMS for encryption and supports hierarchical parameter paths, making it ideal for configuration management without custom code.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudTrail is a service designed for auditing, governance, and compliance by recording API calls and events made within your AWS account. It delivers log files detailing actions taken by users, roles, or AWS services to an S3 bucket. While essential for security and operational monitoring, CloudTrail's purpose is to log and track activity, not to store or serve application configuration parameters for runtime consumption by applications.
- ✗
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) is a fully managed message queuing service that enables you to decouple and scale microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications. It facilitates asynchronous communication by storing messages temporarily until they are retrieved and processed by a consumer. SQS is fundamentally a messaging service for transient data exchange, not a persistent data store for application configuration parameters that need to be directly queried and retrieved by an application.
- ✓
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why this is correct
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store provides secure, hierarchical storage for configuration data management and secrets management. It allows you to store data such as passwords, database connection strings, and application settings as parameter values, which can be encrypted. Applications can then programmatically retrieve these values at runtime, making it an ideal, centralized service for managing and distributing application configuration parameters across different environments and services.
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Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
Amazon DynamoDB is a fast, flexible NoSQL database service designed for applications requiring single-digit millisecond latency at any scale. While it is technically possible to store application configuration data within a DynamoDB table as key-value pairs, it is primarily optimized for transactional or analytical database workloads. It lacks the specialized features for configuration management, such as built-in versioning specifically for configurations, hierarchical organization, or integration with deployment pipelines, that purpose-built services offer.
- ✓
AWS AppConfig
Why this is correct
AWS AppConfig, a capability within AWS Systems Manager, is specifically designed to help you create, manage, and safely deploy application configurations. It supports controlled deployments, allowing for validation of configurations, gradual rollouts to target groups, and automatic rollbacks if issues arise, minimizing impact on users. This service is engineered for robust application configuration management, ensuring safe and dynamic updates to application settings without requiring code deployments.
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JA
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.