SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company uses an Amazon RDS for MySQL DB instance. The database is experiencing high read latency. The team wants to improve read performance with minimal application changes. Which TWO actions should the team take? (Choose two.)
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
✓
Create one or more read replicas and direct read queries to them.
A: Read replicas offload read queries from the primary instance, reducing read latency with minimal application changes (only need to modify connection strings for read queries). E: Increasing the DB instance size provides more CPU and memory, which can improve query processing and reduce read latency, and does not require application changes beyond a potential brief downtime. C is incorrect because migrating to Aurora is a significant change that requires database migration and possible application modifications, not a minimal change. B is incorrect because Multi-AZ only provides failover, not read performance improvement. D is incorrect because max_connections does not directly affect read latency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create one or more read replicas and direct read queries to them.
Why this is correct
Read replicas offload read traffic, reducing latency.
- ✗
Enable Multi-AZ deployment for failover support.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-AZ is for availability, not read performance.
- ✗
Migrate the database to Amazon Aurora.
Why it's wrong here
Migration is a significant change and may not be minimal.
- ✗
Increase the max_connections parameter.
Why it's wrong here
More connections do not reduce read latency.
- ✓
Increase the DB instance size (e.g., from db.r5.large to db.r5.xlarge).
Why this is correct
Larger instances provide better I/O performance.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on SAP-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company has an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database that is experiencing high CPU utilization due to a large number of read queries. They need to offload read traffic and improve performance. Which TWO actions should they take? (Choose TWO.)
medium- A.Enable Multi-AZ deployment for the database.
- ✓ B.Create one or more read replicas in the same Region.
- C.Increase the instance size of the primary database.
- D.Use Amazon ElastiCache to cache query results.
- ✓ E.Implement an RDS Proxy to manage connections.
Why B: Read replicas offload read queries from the primary database, reducing CPU utilization. Option E is correct because RDS Proxy manages connections, reducing overhead from a large number of read queries. Option A is wrong: Multi-AZ provides high availability, not read scaling. Option C is wrong: increasing instance size may help but does not specifically offload read traffic and is often more expensive than read replicas. Option D is wrong: ElastiCache caches query results but does not offload read queries from the database directly.
Variation 2. A company uses Amazon RDS for MySQL for its database. The operations team notices that read queries are slow during peak hours. The application is read-heavy and can tolerate eventual consistency. Which solution would improve read performance with minimal application changes?
easy- A.Increase the DB instance class to a larger size.
- B.Enable Multi-AZ deployment for failover support.
- C.Enable RDS Proxy to pool database connections.
- ✓ D.Create an RDS read replica and direct read traffic to it.
Why D: Creating an RDS read replica allows read traffic to be offloaded from the primary DB instance, significantly improving read performance with minimal application changes, and the application can tolerate eventual consistency. Option A is incorrect because increasing the DB instance class may help but is more costly and does not scale reads independently. Option B is incorrect because Multi-AZ provides high availability and failover, not read scaling. Option C is incorrect because RDS Proxy is for connection pooling and managing database connections, not for scaling reads.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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