SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question

A company has a multi-region architecture using DynamoDB global tables. They notice that write conflicts are occurring frequently between regions. What is the MOST likely cause and how should they resolve it?

⚠ Common exam trap

SAP-C02 often tests whether candidates understand that DynamoDB global tables have no configurable conflict resolution — the last-writer-wins model is fixed, so the trap is picking an answer that implies a configuration fix rather than an application redesign.

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

✓

The application is updating the same item in multiple regions concurrently, and the last-writer-wins conflict resolution is causing data loss.

DynamoDB global tables use multi-region replication with a last-writer-wins conflict resolution based on timestamps. When the same item is updated concurrently in multiple regions, one write silently overwrites the other, causing data loss. The most likely cause of frequent write conflicts is exactly this concurrent update pattern, and the fix is to redesign the application to avoid concurrent writes to the same item across regions — for example, by partitioning writes by region or using conditional writes.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
The application is using strongly consistent reads.
Why it's wrong here
Strongly consistent reads affect only read latency and never generate write conflicts; global table conflicts arise from concurrent writes to the same item in multiple regions. It is tempting because consistency settings do influence DynamoDB behaviour, but the correct fix is routing writes to a single region or using conditional writes with last-writer-wins resolution.
✗
The DynamoDB write capacity is insufficient.
Why it's wrong here
Insufficient write capacity causes throttling and ProvisionedThroughputExceededException, not conflicting concurrent writes to the same key. It is tempting because capacity problems do disrupt writes, but the actual cause is multi-region concurrent updates; resolution requires single-region write routing or conditional writes, not higher WCU.
✓
The application is updating the same item in multiple regions concurrently, and the last-writer-wins conflict resolution is causing data loss.
Why this is correct
DynamoDB global tables replicate asynchronously and resolve concurrent writes to the same key by last-writer-wins, silently discarding the losing update. The frequent conflicts stem from simultaneous multi-region writes to identical items, so the application must avoid concurrent updates to the same key.
✗
The DynamoDB global tables are not properly configured with conflict resolution.
Why it's wrong here
Global tables automatically apply last-writer-wins conflict resolution using timestamps; there is no separate conflict-resolution setting to misconfigure. It is tempting because conflict handling sounds configurable, but the real issue is concurrent writes to the same item across regions, resolved by directing writes to one region or using conditional expressions.

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SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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