Explore your understanding of serverless data storage solutions, comparing NoSQL databases, best-practices, scalability, and cloud-native access methods for serverless applications. This quiz covers key concepts related to serverless database choices, their strengths, limitations, and typical use cases.
Which storage method is commonly used by serverless NoSQL databases to organize data for fast access and scalability?
Explanation: Key-value pairs are a popular method in serverless NoSQL databases, allowing quick retrieval by unique keys. Fixed-length arrays do not suit flexible data modeling. Relational tables with joins are characteristic of traditional SQL databases, not NoSQL. While text documents are used in some databases, not all NoSQL systems use only text documents.
In a serverless application handling unpredictable workloads, which feature of modern data stores allows automatic adjustment to traffic spikes without manual intervention?
Explanation: Automatic scaling lets serverless databases increase or decrease resources as needed, ideal for unpredictable workloads. Static provisioning requires guessing traffic in advance. Manual sharding involves dividing data manually, which can be complex and not dynamic. Disk mirroring is mainly used for backups and redundancy, not for scaling traffic.
If an application needs to store user profiles with flexible attributes such as custom settings, which serverless database feature is most suitable?
Explanation: A schemaless design allows each user profile to have different attributes, making it easy to store flexible or evolving data. Normalized tables and fixed field columns are tied to relational databases with rigid schema. Batch processing refers to handling groups of records at once, not data structure flexibility.
What is one common limitation of serverless NoSQL databases when compared to traditional relational databases?
Explanation: Serverless NoSQL databases often do not support complex joins between tables, focusing on fast lookups instead. They typically excel at horizontal scaling, so limited scaling is not the problem. NoSQL databases often avoid mandatory use of SQL. Encryption at rest is a security best-practice, not a limitation.
When designing serverless applications, which database access pattern can help reduce read latency for frequently requested items?
Explanation: Caching improves performance by temporarily storing frequently accessed data for fast retrieval, reducing database reads. Rewriting all records increases load and latency. Enforcing unique constraints is important for data integrity but does not directly reduce latency. Avoiding partition keys may hurt performance and scalability.
Which data consistency option is commonly offered by serverless NoSQL databases to increase performance at the expense of immediate synchronization?
Explanation: Eventually consistent reads allow faster responses by not guaranteeing immediate synchronization between all data copies. Atomic transactions are not always available or prioritized in NoSQL. Strongly consistent joins are typically absent. Full ACID compliance is a property of relational systems, not most NoSQL offerings.
Which characteristic makes serverless databases well-suited for integration with cloud-native, event-driven applications?
Explanation: Seamless event-triggered updates mean changes in the database can directly trigger application workflows, enabling event-driven designs. Frequent server restarts are undesirable. Manual database scaling is contrary to the serverless model. Proprietary hardware reliance would reduce flexibility, not enhance integration.
What is a typical billing method for most serverless database solutions used in cloud applications?
Explanation: Most serverless databases charge based on usage, such as number of requests or data stored. Billing a fixed monthly license or annual hardware fee is not typical in serverless cloud models. Per-second CPU time alone does not cover all database operations or storage and is uncommon.
When designing an e-commerce serverless app that needs to quickly retrieve a user's order history, which data modeling approach would be most efficient?
Explanation: Storing orders as nested arrays within the user record enables quick retrieval of all a user's orders in a single query, which is efficient. Splitting into separate unrelated tables makes accessing data less direct. Flat files do not scale well for queries. A single huge table may complicate data retrieval and maintenance.
Which method is commonly used to read and write data in serverless NoSQL databases from a cloud function?
Explanation: RESTful API calls are a common and secure way to access serverless databases programmatically. Direct file system access is not typically allowed in serverless environments. Proprietary networking cables are irrelevant for software data access. Batch printing refers to outputting data, not reading and writing operations.