DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A company needs to ingest CSV files from an FTP server into Amazon S3 daily. The files are typically 50 MB each, and the process should be fully managed with minimal operational overhead. Which AWS service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse AWS DataSync as a general-purpose file transfer service, but it does not support FTP protocol natively and requires an agent, making it unsuitable for a fully managed FTP-to-S3 ingestion without infrastructure management.
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 solution for transferring files to and from Amazon S3 using FTP, FTPS, or SFTP protocols. It eliminates the need to manage any FTP infrastructure, directly integrates with S3 as a destination, and handles the daily ingestion of 50 MB CSV files with minimal operational overhead, aligning perfectly with the requirement for a fully managed service.
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 Lambda with FTP library
Why it's wrong here
Requires custom code and management, not fully managed.
- ✗
AWS DataSync
Why it's wrong here
DataSync is for NFS/SMB, not FTP.
- ✓
AWS Transfer Family
Why this is correct
Managed FTP/SFTP service that writes directly to S3.
- ✗
Amazon AppFlow
Why it's wrong here
AppFlow is for SaaS applications like Salesforce, not FTP.
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
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.