SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
A batch analytics job has unpredictable DynamoDB traffic with long idle periods and occasional spikes. Which capacity mode should minimize operational overhead and avoid paying for idle provisioned capacity?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse 'Reserved capacity' with DynamoDB's reserved capacity option (which does not exist) or think provisioned capacity is always cheaper, ignoring the cost of idle provisioned throughput during unpredictable workloads.
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
✓
DynamoDB on-demand capacity mode
DynamoDB on-demand capacity mode automatically scales to handle unpredictable traffic spikes and idle periods, charging only for the reads and writes you perform. This eliminates the need to provision capacity for peak traffic, avoiding costs during long idle periods and reducing operational overhead from capacity management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
DynamoDB on-demand capacity mode
Why this is correct
On-demand capacity is suitable for unpredictable workloads and charges per request without capacity planning.
- ✗
Reserved capacity for maximum daily traffic
Why it's wrong here
Reserved capacity works best for predictable steady usage.
- ✗
Provisioned capacity set for peak traffic
Why it's wrong here
Provisioning for peak traffic wastes cost during idle periods.
- ✗
Global tables in every Region
Why it's wrong here
Global tables add replication cost and do not solve idle-capacity waste.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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This SAA-C03 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 SAA-C03 exam.