Optimizing Response Time for High-Traffic Applications | AWS RDS Database

Answer - B.

The AWS Documentation mentions the following.

You can reduce the load on your source DB instance by routing read queries from your applications to the read replica.

Read replicas allow you to elastically scale out beyond the capacity constraints of a single DB Instance for read-heavy database workloads.

Option A is incorrect because the RDS database cannot be the origin of a CloudFront distribution.

Option C is incorrect because changing the database type is not the ideal approach.

Option D is incorrect because Multi-AZ is used for fault-tolerant scenarios for the database.

For more information on Read Replicas, please refer to the below URL-

https://aws.amazon.com/rds/details/read-replicas/

To decrease the response time of an application that has a database hosted in an AWS RDS Instance, the following options can be considered:

A. Place a CloudFront distribution in front of the database: This option is not suitable for improving the performance of an RDS database. CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) service that caches and delivers content from a global network of edge locations. It is mainly used for serving static content such as images, videos, and other files to users with low latency. CloudFront does not interact with a database directly and is not intended to improve database performance.

B. Enable Read Replicas for the database: Enabling Read Replicas can significantly improve the read performance of an RDS database. Read Replicas are copies of the primary database that can be used to offload read traffic from the primary database. Read Replicas are asynchronous, which means that data changes made to the primary database may not be immediately reflected in the Read Replica. However, this is an acceptable trade-off for many applications that can tolerate eventual consistency. By directing read queries to the Read Replicas, the response time of the application can be reduced.

C. Change the database from RDS to DynamoDB: DynamoDB is a NoSQL database service provided by AWS. It is designed to provide low-latency access to data at any scale. Unlike RDS, DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database that can automatically scale up or down based on the application's needs. However, DynamoDB is not a relational database and may require significant changes to the application's data model and query patterns. Therefore, switching from RDS to DynamoDB is a significant undertaking and may not be suitable for all applications.

D. Enable Multi-AZ for the database: Enabling Multi-AZ can improve the availability and durability of an RDS database but does not directly improve its performance. Multi-AZ creates a synchronous standby replica of the primary database in a different availability zone (AZ) within the same region. In the event of a planned or unplanned outage of the primary database, Amazon RDS automatically switches to the standby replica, reducing downtime and preserving data durability.

In conclusion, the best option to decrease the response time of an application that has an RDS database is to enable Read Replicas for the database.