CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A media company stores frequently accessed video thumbnails in Amazon S3. The thumbnails are read multiple times every day and must be highly available and durable. Which S3 storage class is most appropriate for this workload?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to choose S3 Standard-IA thinking it saves costs for any infrequently accessed data, but they overlook the per-GB retrieval fee and minimum storage duration that make it more expensive than S3 Standard for data read multiple times daily.
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
✓
S3 Standard
S3 Standard is the most appropriate storage class because it offers high durability (99.999999999%) and high availability (99.99%) with low-latency access, making it ideal for frequently accessed, critical data like video thumbnails that are read multiple times daily. It provides automatic replication across a minimum of three Availability Zones, ensuring both high availability and durability without retrieval fees or minimum storage duration penalties.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
S3 One Zone-IA
Why it's wrong here
S3 One Zone-IA stores objects in a single Availability Zone, so it cannot satisfy the high-availability requirement if that zone fails. It is tempting because it costs less than Standard-IA for infrequently accessed, re-creatable data, and it would be correct for non-critical backups or thumbnails that can be regenerated.
- ✗
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval
Why it's wrong here
Glacier Flexible Retrieval is archival storage with retrieval times from minutes to hours, so repeated daily reads would incur retrieval charges and latency. S3 Standard serves frequently accessed objects with low latency. Glacier suits long-term backups and compliance archives accessed rarely.
- ✓
S3 Standard
Why this is correct
S3 Standard delivers low-latency, high-throughput access across multiple Availability Zones, satisfying the frequent daily reads and high-availability requirement. Its eleven nines of durability and no retrieval fees or minimum storage duration suit repeatedly accessed thumbnails, unlike infrequent-access or archival classes that penalise frequent retrieval.
- ✗
S3 Standard-IA
Why it's wrong here
S3 Standard-IA bills retrieval charges and enforces a 30-day minimum storage duration, so daily reads of thumbnails incur per-GB retrieval fees that S3 Standard avoids. It is tempting because it offers the same durability and multi-AZ availability at lower storage cost, and it would be correct for infrequently accessed data needing rapid access.
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 |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.