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hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped

Exhibit

Load-test observations:
- DynamoDB table type: on-demand
- Primary access pattern: GetItem for 200 hot keys
- p95 latency without cache: 17-24 ms
- p95 latency under burst: 31 ms and rising
- Sample application note: "A few seconds of staleness is acceptable for dashboards and recommendations"
- CloudWatch: ConsumedReadCapacityUnits spikes during refresh cycles

Based on the exhibit, a retail analytics service repeatedly reads the same DynamoDB items during an active campaign. The business can tolerate data that is a few seconds stale, but the application must minimize latency and reduce pressure on DynamoDB. A load test shows that 80% of reads target only 200 item keys. What should the solutions architect implement?

Question 1hardmultiple choice
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Based on the exhibit, a retail analytics service repeatedly reads the same DynamoDB items during an active campaign. The business can tolerate data that is a few seconds stale, but the application must minimize latency and reduce pressure on DynamoDB. A load test shows that 80% of reads target only 200 item keys. What should the solutions architect implement?

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Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

A

Best answer

Add a DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) cluster in front of the table and point the application to the DAX endpoint.

DAX is purpose-built for DynamoDB read caching and can absorb repeated reads for the same keys with very low latency. Because the workload can tolerate slight staleness, DAX fits the requirement well and reduces pressure on the table during bursts.

B

Distractor review

Switch the table to provisioned capacity with auto scaling so DynamoDB can handle the repeated reads more efficiently.

Provisioned capacity can help with throughput planning, but it does not cache repeated reads or materially reduce read latency for hot items.

C

Distractor review

Create a global table in a second Region and read from the replica Region to lower latency.

Global tables are for multi-Region replication and availability, not for caching repeated reads of the same items in one workload.

D

Distractor review

Move the hot items into Amazon ElastiCache for Redis and keep the remaining data in DynamoDB.

Redis can cache data, but it adds more application design and synchronization work than DAX, which is the native DynamoDB acceleration service.

Common exam trap

Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic

NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
  • PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
  • Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
  • NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.

TExam Day Tips

  • Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
  • Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
  • Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.

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More questions from this exam

Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.

Question 1

A team needs to distribute TCP traffic (not HTTP) across multiple services. The services must see the original client source IP for auditing. Which AWS load balancer is the best fit?

Question 2

A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?

Question 3

A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a IoT ingestion API. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.

Question 4

A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a claims portal. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?

Question 5

A team wants to delegate IAM management to developers, but must ensure developers can never grant themselves permissions beyond a specific limit. Which AWS mechanism best matches this requirement?

Question 6

A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a healthcare document service. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

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: Add a DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) cluster in front of the table and point the application to the DAX endpoint. — The workload repeatedly reads a small set of DynamoDB items and can tolerate a small amount of staleness. The exhibit shows the hot keys are responsible for most reads, and latency rises during burst refresh cycles. DAX is the best fit because it is an in-memory cache specifically designed for DynamoDB. It lowers read latency, offloads the table, and requires far less application redesign than building a separate cache layer. Provisioned capacity helps with throughput planning, but it does not cache hot keys or directly reduce read latency. A global table addresses multi-Region resilience, not repeated single-Region read acceleration. ElastiCache can cache data, but it adds more custom cache invalidation and synchronization work than DAX, which is the managed service made for this exact DynamoDB read pattern.

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.

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