DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company is using Amazon S3 to store sensitive data. To meet compliance requirements, they need to automatically transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and delete them after 7 years. What is the MOST cost-effective way to configure this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse S3 Intelligent-Tiering with lifecycle policies, not realizing that Intelligent-Tiering does not support Glacier Deep Archive transitions, or they may overcomplicate the solution by adding Object Lock when a simple lifecycle policy suffices.
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
✓
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects to Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expire them after 7 years.
An S3 Lifecycle policy can automate both the transition of objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and their expiration (permanent deletion) after 7 years. This is the most cost-effective approach as it eliminates manual effort and leverages S3's native, serverless lifecycle management, which incurs no additional cost beyond the storage and transition fees.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects to Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expire them after 7 years.
Why this is correct
Lifecycle policies provide automated transitions and expirations based on object age.
- ✗
Manually move objects to Glacier Deep Archive and delete them using a script.
Why it's wrong here
Manual approach is not automated and likely to miss compliance requirements.
- ✗
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering to automatically move objects to Glacier Deep Archive and set expiration.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Intelligent-Tiering does not support deletion; it only moves between access tiers.
- ✗
Enable S3 Object Lock with a retention period of 7 years and use a lifecycle policy to transition to Glacier Deep Archive.
Why it's wrong here
Object Lock prevents deletion, but the requirement is to delete after 7 years, not retain indefinitely.
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 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.