DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company runs a data pipeline using AWS Step Functions to orchestrate multiple AWS Lambda functions and AWS Glue jobs. The pipeline processes large CSV files from Amazon S3, transforms them, and loads them into Amazon Redshift. Recently, the pipeline has been failing intermittently with a 'StateMachineExecutionLimitExceeded' error. The error occurs when multiple pipeline runs are triggered simultaneously. The current execution limit for the state machine is 1000. The team expects up to 200 concurrent executions during peak hours. Which action should the team take to resolve the issue?
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
✓
Request a service quota increase for the maximum number of state machine executions from AWS Support.
The error indicates the state machine execution limit has been reached. The team should request a limit increase from AWS Support. Option A is wrong because reducing concurrency does not solve the limit issue; it only reduces the number of concurrent executions. Option B is wrong because increasing Lambda concurrency limits does not affect Step Functions execution limits. Option C is wrong because the error is not about execution timeout; it's about exceeding the maximum number of concurrent executions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the execution timeout for the state machine to 1 hour.
Why it's wrong here
The error is about execution count, not duration.
- ✗
Increase the Lambda function concurrency limits to allow more parallel processing.
Why it's wrong here
Lambda concurrency is separate from Step Functions execution limits.
- ✗
Implement a queue (e.g., Amazon SQS) to buffer the pipeline triggers and process them sequentially.
Why it's wrong here
This reduces concurrency but does not increase the limit; the error will still occur if the queue triggers more than 1000 executions.
- ✓
Request a service quota increase for the maximum number of state machine executions from AWS Support.
Why this is correct
The default limit is 1000; increasing it to 2000 would accommodate the expected concurrency.
Visual reference
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
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