DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company is using AWS Glue ETL jobs to process data from Amazon S3 and write results back to S3. The jobs are failing intermittently with 'ThrottlingException' errors. Which TWO configurations would help reduce these errors?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse increasing DPUs (Option E) as a solution for all performance issues, but while it can reduce throttling by speeding up execution, it may also increase API call concurrency and require careful tuning; the question specifically asks for configurations that 'help reduce these errors,' and retry logic is a direct, reliable mitigation.
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
✓
Add retry logic with exponential backoff in the job script.
Adding retry logic with exponential backoff in the job script directly addresses transient 'ThrottlingException' errors by automatically retrying failed API calls after increasing delays. This is a standard best practice for handling service throttling in AWS Glue, as it reduces the request rate to stay within service limits without requiring infrastructure changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Decrease the number of DPUs for the job.
Why it's wrong here
Fewer DPUs may increase throttling due to less parallelism.
- ✗
Enable GZIP compression on the output data.
Why it's wrong here
Compression does not reduce API throttling.
- ✓
Add retry logic with exponential backoff in the job script.
Why this is correct
Retries handle transient throttling gracefully.
- ✗
Change the job type from Spark to Python shell.
Why it's wrong here
Job type does not affect throttling.
- ✓
Increase the number of DPUs for the job.
Why this is correct
More DPUs reduce the load per worker, reducing throttling.
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.