- A
Amazon Redshift Spectrum
Why wrong: Redshift Spectrum can query S3 data but requires a running Redshift cluster — Athena is fully serverless with no cluster to manage.
- B
Amazon Athena
Athena queries S3 data directly using SQL with no infrastructure management — Parquet's columnar format minimizes data scanned and query cost, making it ideal for Athena.
- C
Amazon EMR
Why wrong: EMR can run Spark/Hive queries on S3 data but requires cluster provisioning — Athena is serverless.
- D
AWS Glue ETL
Why wrong: Glue ETL transforms data — it's not a query service. Glue Data Catalog integrates with Athena for schema management, but Athena is the query engine.
Question 159 of 1,024
CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cloud technology and services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 processes millions of customer records and needs to query data in Amazon S3 without loading it into a database. The data is stored in Parquet format. Which AWS service enables this with no infrastructure to manage?
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 Athena
Amazon Athena is a serverless interactive query service that allows you to analyze data directly in Amazon S3 using standard SQL, with no infrastructure to manage. It natively supports Parquet format, which is columnar and optimized for efficient querying, making it ideal for querying millions of customer records without loading them into a database.
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.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift Spectrum
Why it's wrong here
Redshift Spectrum can query S3 data but requires a running Redshift cluster — Athena is fully serverless with no cluster to manage.
- ✓
Amazon Athena
Why this is correct
Athena queries S3 data directly using SQL with no infrastructure management — Parquet's columnar format minimizes data scanned and query cost, making it ideal for Athena.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon EMR
Why it's wrong here
EMR can run Spark/Hive queries on S3 data but requires cluster provisioning — Athena is serverless.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL
Why it's wrong here
Glue ETL transforms data — it's not a query service. Glue Data Catalog integrates with Athena for schema management, but Athena is the query engine.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon Redshift Spectrum (which also queries S3) with a serverless service, but it still requires a managed Redshift cluster, whereas Athena is truly serverless with zero infrastructure management.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Athena leverages the Presto distributed SQL engine under the hood, automatically scaling compute resources based on query complexity and data volume. It uses a pay-per-query pricing model based on the amount of data scanned, and with Parquet’s columnar storage and compression (e.g., Snappy), Athena can significantly reduce scanned bytes and costs by using partition pruning and predicate pushdown. A real-world scenario is querying terabytes of IoT sensor logs in S3 where loading into a database would be cost-prohibitive and slow.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Cloud Technology and Services — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Cloud Technology and Services practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All CLF-C02 questions
1,024 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
CLF-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related CLF-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Cloud Concepts practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Cloud Concepts.
Security and Compliance practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Security and Compliance.
Cloud Technology and Services practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Cloud Technology and Services.
Billing, Pricing, and Support practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Billing, Pricing, and Support.
AWS shared responsibility model practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS shared responsibility model.
AWS IAM practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS IAM.
AWS pricing practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS pricing.
AWS support plans practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS support plans.
AWS S3 practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS S3.
AWS EC2 practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS EC2.
Practice this exam
Start a free CLF-C02 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Cloud Technology and Services — This question tests Cloud Technology and Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon Athena — Amazon Athena is a serverless interactive query service that allows you to analyze data directly in Amazon S3 using standard SQL, with no infrastructure to manage. It natively supports Parquet format, which is columnar and optimized for efficient querying, making it ideal for querying millions of customer records without loading them into a database.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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 →
Keep practising
More CLF-C02 practice questions
- A company publishes a message each time a new product is added to its catalogue. Three services need to receive this mes…
- A media company stores frequently accessed video thumbnails in Amazon S3. The thumbnails are read multiple times every d…
- A company needs a service to translate domain names (like www.example.com) into IP addresses, check the health of their…
- A startup runs an application on AWS and receives a monthly bill that charges exactly for the number of compute hours us…
- A financial institution runs its core banking application on-premises due to regulatory requirements. It has connected i…
- A company wants to run a MySQL database in AWS without managing database software installation, applying patches, settin…
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CLF-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 CLF-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.