DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company is using Amazon Athena to query data stored in S3. Queries are failing with 'HIVE_INVALID_PARTITION' errors. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse permission errors (like S3 bucket policies) with metadata consistency errors, or assume compression or format mismatches cause partition-specific errors, when in reality 'HIVE_INVALID_PARTITION' is a direct indicator of a stale or missing partition folder in the catalog.
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
✓
A partition folder in S3 has been deleted or moved, but the table metadata still references it.
The 'HIVE_INVALID_PARTITION' error in Amazon Athena occurs when the table's partition metadata in the AWS Glue Data Catalog (or Hive metastore) references a partition folder that no longer exists in the S3 bucket. Athena relies on the metadata to locate data files; if a partition folder is deleted or moved without updating the metadata, queries fail because Athena cannot find the expected data location.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The S3 bucket is configured with a bucket policy that denies access to the Athena service.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause access denied, not partition error.
- ✓
A partition folder in S3 has been deleted or moved, but the table metadata still references it.
Why this is correct
Athena expects all partitions to exist.
- ✗
The data is compressed with gzip, but the table definition expects uncompressed data.
Why it's wrong here
Athena supports gzip transparently.
- ✗
The data files are in CSV format but the table definition expects Parquet.
Why it's wrong here
Would cause data type mismatch error, not partition error.
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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JA
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.