DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A company is designing a data ingestion pipeline to load CSV files from an SFTP server into Amazon S3. The files are generated hourly and range from 10 MB to 500 MB. Which AWS service should be used to orchestrate the transfer with minimal operational overhead?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse AWS DataSync (which requires an on-premises agent and does not support SFTP) with Transfer Family, or they mistakenly think AWS Glue can handle SFTP ingestion because it supports custom connectors, but Glue is not designed for real-time file transfer orchestration.
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
✓
AWS Transfer Family
AWS Transfer Family is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed, serverless SFTP endpoint that can directly receive files from an SFTP server and automatically store them in Amazon S3. This eliminates the need to manage any compute infrastructure or write custom code for the transfer, minimizing operational overhead for hourly CSV file ingestion.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Glue
Why it's wrong here
Glue is for ETL jobs, not for file transfer.
- ✗
Amazon AppFlow
Why it's wrong here
AppFlow integrates with SaaS applications, not SFTP servers.
- ✓
AWS Transfer Family
Why this is correct
AWS Transfer Family provides managed SFTP with automatic uploads to S3.
- ✗
AWS DataSync
Why it's wrong here
DataSync does not support SFTP as a source; it supports NFS, SMB, and self-managed object storage.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.