The answer is to add an Aurora Replica and configure the application to use the reader endpoint for read-only queries. This solution directly addresses the need to reduce Aurora read load without code changes by offloading read traffic from the primary instance to a read replica, which handles all SELECT statements while the primary continues processing writes. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of Aurora’s architecture and the distinction between the cluster endpoint (for writes) and the reader endpoint (for read scaling), with a common trap being to suggest scaling up the instance or adding an EC2 Auto Scaling group, which do not resolve database CPU pressure. The key insight is that Aurora Replicas require no application code changes beyond pointing read queries to the reader endpoint, making it the minimal-effort solution for read-heavy workloads. Memory tip: think “reader for reads, writer for writes” to always pair the correct endpoint with the workload type.
SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company hosts a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application uses an Amazon Aurora MySQL database. Recently, the application has become slow during peak hours. The operations team notices that the database CPU utilization is high, but the number of connections is within limits. The application is read-heavy. The team wants to improve performance with minimal changes to the application code. The database is currently a single Aurora instance. Which solution should the team implement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Add an Aurora Replica and configure the application to use the reader endpoint for read-only queries.
Adding an Aurora Replica distributes read traffic, reducing load on the primary instance. The application must be configured to use the reader endpoint for read queries.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Add an Aurora Replica and configure the application to use the reader endpoint for read-only queries.
Why this is correct
This offloads read traffic with minimal application changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache database queries.
Why it's wrong here
DAX is for DynamoDB, not Aurora.
✗
Add an Amazon ElastiCache Redis cluster in front of the database.
Why it's wrong here
Caching would require significant application changes.
✗
Increase the instance size of the Aurora primary instance.
Why it's wrong here
This may help but is less efficient than adding replicas for read-heavy workloads.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add an Aurora Replica and configure the application to use the reader endpoint for read-only queries. — Adding an Aurora Replica distributes read traffic, reducing load on the primary instance. The application must be configured to use the reader endpoint for read queries.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 runs a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application uses an Amazon RDS MySQL Multi-AZ DB instance. During a recent load test, the application became unresponsive for several minutes. The monitoring shows that the RDS instance CPU utilization spiked to 100% during the test. The application reads and writes to the same database. Which design change would provide the BEST improvement in database scalability and reduce CPU contention?
medium
✓ A.Create RDS read replicas for the DB instance and route read queries from the application to the replicas.
B.Configure an in-memory cache like Amazon ElastiCache to cache frequent queries.
C.Increase the instance size of the RDS DB instance to a larger instance type.
D.Enable Multi-AZ for the RDS instance to distribute the load across two instances.
Why A: The correct answer is A because creating RDS read replicas offloads read queries from the primary DB instance, reducing CPU contention from read-heavy workloads. Since the application reads and writes to the same database, directing read traffic to replicas decreases the primary instance's CPU utilization, directly addressing the 100% CPU spike observed during the load test. This improves database scalability by distributing read operations horizontally without altering write capacity.
Variation 2. A company runs a web application on EC2 instances behind an ALB. The application uses an Amazon Aurora MySQL database. The operations team notices that the database CPU utilization is consistently above 80% during business hours. The team needs to reduce database load without changing the application code. Which TWO actions should the team take? (Select TWO.)
medium
✓ A.Create an Aurora read replica and direct read queries to it.
B.Increase the DB instance class to a larger size.
✓ C.Implement an ElastiCache for Redis caching layer to cache frequent queries.
D.Enable Amazon RDS Performance Insights to identify slow queries.
E.Increase the Auto Scaling group maximum size to handle more traffic.
Why A: Option A is correct because implementing an ElastiCache caching layer can reduce repeat database queries. Option D is correct because creating an Aurora read replica and directing read traffic to it offloads the primary instance. Option B is wrong because increasing the DB instance class may help but is not a best practice for immediate load reduction. Option C is wrong because increasing Auto Scaling group size does not affect database load. Option E is wrong because enabling Performance Insights is for monitoring, not load reduction.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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This SAP-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAP-C02 exam.
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