SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a new database solution for a global e-commerce application. The database must support high read and write throughput with single-digit millisecond latency. The company expects traffic spikes during peak hours. Which TWO AWS services should the company consider?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose Amazon Aurora or RDS for MySQL because they are familiar with SQL databases, but they overlook the requirement for single-digit millisecond latency and high throughput under spikes, which in-memory caching and NoSQL solutions like ElastiCache and DynamoDB are specifically designed to meet.
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
✓
Amazon ElastiCache
Amazon ElastiCache provides an in-memory caching layer (e.g., Redis or Memcached) that can absorb read-heavy traffic spikes with sub-millisecond latency, offloading reads from the primary database. Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database that delivers consistent single-digit millisecond latency at any scale, supports auto-scaling for traffic spikes, and handles high write throughput via its distributed architecture.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)
Why it's wrong here
DocumentDB is a document database, not ideal for high-throughput key-value access.
- ✓
Amazon ElastiCache
Why this is correct
ElastiCache (Redis or Memcached) provides in-memory caching for low latency.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB
Why this is correct
DynamoDB provides single-digit millisecond latency and auto-scaling throughput.
- ✗
Amazon Aurora
Why it's wrong here
Aurora is a relational database with higher latency for high-throughput scenarios.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL
Why it's wrong here
RDS is relational and less scalable for high-throughput global applications.
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