Quick Answer
The answer is to modify the RDS instance to a larger instance class. This is the correct immediate mitigation for RDS high CPU latency because scaling up provides more vCPUs and memory instantly, directly addressing the resource bottleneck without requiring application code changes or time-consuming analysis. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between reactive scaling (scale up) and proactive optimization (scale out or read replicas), with the trap being that vertical scaling is the fastest fix for an active incident, while horizontal scaling or query tuning are longer-term solutions. Remember the memory tip: when CPU is spiking and latency is critical, think "up, not out" — scale up the instance class first to buy time for deeper investigation.
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of incident and event response. 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 DevOps team receives a CloudWatch alarm that an RDS DB instance's CPU utilization has exceeded 90% for 5 minutes. The application is experiencing latency. What is the best immediate step to mitigate the issue?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Analyze slow query logs and optimize queries.
Why wrong: Long-term solution, not immediate.
Enable Multi-AZ deployment for failover.
Why wrong: Does not address high CPU; failover would not help.
Modify the RDS instance to a larger instance class.
Immediately increases CPU capacity.
Add a read replica to offload read traffic.
Why wrong: Read replicas do not reduce CPU load from writes.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Modify the RDS instance to a larger instance class.
Option C is correct because when an RDS instance's CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 minutes and the application is experiencing latency, the immediate step is to scale up the instance to a larger class to provide more CPU capacity. This directly addresses the resource bottleneck without requiring time-consuming analysis or architectural changes, making it the fastest mitigation for an ongoing incident.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Analyze slow query logs and optimize queries.
Why it's wrong here
Long-term solution, not immediate.
Enable Multi-AZ deployment for failover.
Why it's wrong here
Does not address high CPU; failover would not help.
Modify the RDS instance to a larger instance class.
Why this is correct
Immediately increases CPU capacity.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Add a read replica to offload read traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas do not reduce CPU load from writes.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse reactive scaling (immediate mitigation) with proactive optimization or architectural changes, leading them to choose slow query analysis or read replicas, which are valid but not immediate fixes for a CPU bottleneck.
Detailed technical explanation
RDS instance classes are backed by specific EC2 instance types with dedicated vCPUs and memory; scaling to a larger class (e.g., from db.r5.large to db.r5.xlarge) doubles the vCPU count, allowing more concurrent query processing. Under the hood, CPU credits in burstable instances (like db.t3) can be exhausted, causing throttling, whereas moving to a larger class or a dedicated instance avoids credit exhaustion. In a real-world scenario, if the instance is already at 90% CPU due to a sudden traffic spike, scaling up is the only immediate action that provides more compute resources without downtime.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
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Incident and Event Response — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Incident and Event Response — This question tests Incident and Event Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Modify the RDS instance to a larger instance class. — Option C is correct because when an RDS instance's CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 minutes and the application is experiencing latency, the immediate step is to scale up the instance to a larger class to provide more CPU capacity. This directly addresses the resource bottleneck without requiring time-consuming analysis or architectural changes, making it the fastest mitigation for an ongoing incident.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This DOP-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 DOP-C02 exam.
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