A retail analytics app uses Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. Read traffic is growing, and the database CPU spikes mainly due to SELECT-heavy workloads. Writes are less frequent, and the app can tolerate eventually consistent reads for the reports. What is the most appropriate AWS-native way to improve read performance with minimal application changes?

Switch the cluster to DynamoDB without redesigning the data model.

Moving to DynamoDB typically requires significant model changes and does not directly solve RDS read pressure.

Enable S3 event notifications to trigger a Lambda function after each write to the database.

S3 event notifications are unrelated to database read scaling and won’t reduce SELECT workload on RDS.

Replace the RDS instance class with a smaller size to reduce cost and improve performance.

Smaller instances usually worsen performance and would likely increase CPU and latency under read load.

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create an RDS read replica and point the reporting queries to the replica endpoint. — RDS read replicas are designed to improve read throughput by offloading SELECT queries from the primary instance. Because the app’s reporting can tolerate eventually consistent reads, replica lag is acceptable in exchange for faster read performance. The minimal application change is routing reporting/analytics queries to the read replica endpoint while keeping writes directed to the primary. This is a common, straightforward pattern for scaling read-heavy workloads without re-architecting the database. Why others are wrong: B is not an appropriate first step because switching storage engines generally requires schema and application changes. C is unrelated: S3 notifications only help with object events and do not affect database query execution. D is incorrect because reducing instance size typically decreases CPU headroom and increases the risk of higher latency rather than improving performance.

What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.