DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company has an S3 bucket with versioning enabled that stores critical data. The security team requires that once an object is deleted, it cannot be recovered by anyone, including the root user. Additionally, the company wants to ensure that objects cannot be overwritten for a specified period. Which THREE actions should the data engineer take to meet these requirements? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse MFA Delete with Object Lock, thinking MFA Delete provides the same immutability guarantee, but MFA Delete only adds an authentication step and does not prevent deletion by the root user or enforce a retention period.
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
✓
Enable S3 Object Lock in compliance mode.
S3 Object Lock in compliance mode prevents objects from being deleted or overwritten by any user, including the root user, for the duration of the retention period. This meets the requirement that once an object is deleted, it cannot be recovered, because compliance mode locks are immutable and cannot be removed or shortened by anyone. Setting a retention period on the bucket using Object Lock ensures that objects cannot be overwritten for the specified period. Enabling S3 Versioning is necessary because Object Lock requires versioning to be enabled on the bucket to track object versions and enforce retention settings.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enable S3 Object Lock in compliance mode.
Why this is correct
Compliance mode prevents deletion by any user, including root.
- ✓
Set a retention period on the bucket using Object Lock.
Why this is correct
Retention period enforces the time during which objects cannot be overwritten or deleted.
- ✓
Enable S3 Versioning on the bucket.
Why this is correct
Versioning is prerequisite for Object Lock.
- ✗
Enable MFA Delete on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
MFA Delete does not prevent root user from deleting.
- ✗
Configure a lifecycle policy to expire noncurrent versions after 1 day.
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle policies can delete objects, conflicting with the requirement.
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 |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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