The answer is a connection leak, and the immediate action is to restart the database to clear all connections. This is correct because a sudden spike in the DatabaseConnections metric to the maximum limit, without corresponding storage or CPU alarms, strongly indicates that the application is failing to close database sessions properly, causing connections to accumulate until the pool is exhausted. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between symptom and root cause: the symptom is max connections, but the root cause is a leak, not a resource bottleneck like full storage or high CPU. A common trap is to assume you need to scale the instance or modify the max_connections parameter, but the immediate priority is restoring availability via a restart, then fixing the application code. Remember the mnemonic: "Leak, not peak" — a connection spike is a leak symptom, not a capacity issue.
DOP-C02 Incident and Event Response Practice Question
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 company runs a critical Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. The database suddenly becomes unresponsive. The DevOps team checks CloudWatch metrics and notices that the 'DatabaseConnections' metric spiked to the maximum limit. What is the MOST likely cause and immediate action?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The application has a connection leak; restart the database to clear connections.
Option A is correct because a sudden spike to max connections indicates that the application might have a connection leak, causing connections to accumulate. The immediate action is to restart the database to clear all connections and then investigate the application. Option B is wrong because storage full would cause 'FreeStorageSpace' to be low, not necessarily max connections. Option C is wrong because CPU high would be shown by 'CPUUtilization' metric, not directly connections. Option D is wrong because a network issue would affect connectivity, not cause max connections.
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.
✗
There is a network connectivity issue; check the VPC settings.
Why it's wrong here
Network issues would cause connection failures, not max connections.
✗
The database storage is full; increase the allocated storage.
Why it's wrong here
Storage full would show low free storage, not necessarily max connections.
✓
The application has a connection leak; restart the database to clear connections.
Why this is correct
A connection leak causes connections to remain open, hitting the max. Restarting clears them.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The database CPU is at 100%; scale up the instance class.
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.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
Storage full would show low free storage, not necessarily max connections.
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 DOP-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.
Incident and Event Response — This question tests Incident and Event Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The application has a connection leak; restart the database to clear connections. — Option A is correct because a sudden spike to max connections indicates that the application might have a connection leak, causing connections to accumulate. The immediate action is to restart the database to clear all connections and then investigate the application. Option B is wrong because storage full would cause 'FreeStorageSpace' to be low, not necessarily max connections. Option C is wrong because CPU high would be shown by 'CPUUtilization' metric, not directly connections. Option D is wrong because a network issue would affect connectivity, not cause max connections.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DOP-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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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 →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.