This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design high-performing architectures. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. A key principle to apply: rDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections.. 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 mobile game backend uses Amazon Aurora. The workload has many short-lived database connections from Lambda functions, causing connection storms. What should be added? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
An internet gateway
Why wrong: An internet gateway does not manage database connections.
S3 Select
Why wrong: S3 Select queries object content and is unrelated to database connection pooling.
RDS Proxy
RDS Proxy pools and manages database connections, improving scalability for serverless and bursty workloads.
A larger Route 53 hosted zone
Why wrong: DNS hosted zones do not solve connection storms.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
RDS Proxy
RDS Proxy is the correct choice because it pools and shares database connections, reducing the overhead of establishing new connections for each Lambda invocation. This prevents connection storms by maintaining a persistent pool of connections to Aurora, which is ideal for short-lived, high-frequency connections from serverless functions like Lambda.
Key principle: RDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
An internet gateway
Why it's wrong here
An internet gateway does not manage database connections.
S3 Select
Why it's wrong here
S3 Select queries object content and is unrelated to database connection pooling.
RDS Proxy
Why this is correct
RDS Proxy pools and manages database connections, improving scalability for serverless and bursty workloads.
Related concept
RDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections.
A larger Route 53 hosted zone
Why it's wrong here
DNS hosted zones do not solve connection storms.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates might think adding more network resources (like an internet gateway or larger DNS zone) solves connection storms, when the real issue is connection management at the database layer, not network capacity.
Detailed technical explanation
RDS Proxy sits between Lambda and Aurora, maintaining a warm pool of connections that Lambda functions can reuse, which reduces the overhead of TLS handshakes and authentication. Under the hood, it uses connection multiplexing to handle thousands of concurrent Lambda invocations with a fraction of the database connections, and it supports IAM authentication for secure, credential-less access. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for serverless applications where Lambda can scale rapidly, as without RDS Proxy, Aurora can hit its max_connections limit and reject new connections.
Key takeaway
RDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections.
Real-world example
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
Review rDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
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FAQ
Design High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — RDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections..
The correct answer is: RDS Proxy — RDS Proxy is the correct choice because it pools and shares database connections, reducing the overhead of establishing new connections for each Lambda invocation. This prevents connection storms by maintaining a persistent pool of connections to Aurora, which is ideal for short-lived, high-frequency connections from serverless functions like Lambda.
Review rDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
RDS Proxy pools and reuses database connections.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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