DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company runs a Redshift cluster for analytics. The data engineering team notices that COPY commands from S3 are failing for large files (>1 GB) with the error 'S3ServiceException: SlowDown'. What is the most effective solution?
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
✓
Split the large files into smaller parts (e.g., 100 MB each) and use parallel COPY.
The SlowDown error indicates throttling from S3. Splitting large files into smaller parts increases parallelism and reduces the chance of throttling per object. Option A is wrong because using Redshift Spectrum is for querying external tables, not for addressing S3 throttling during COPY. Option B is wrong because enabling automatic compression is for compression, not throttling. Option C is wrong because increasing the number of Redshift nodes does not directly address S3 throttling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Redshift Spectrum to query the data directly in S3.
Why it's wrong here
Spectrum is for querying, not for loading data into Redshift.
- ✗
Enable automatic compression on the target tables.
Why it's wrong here
Compression reduces storage, not throttling.
- ✗
Increase the number of Redshift nodes to distribute the load.
Why it's wrong here
This helps with Redshift performance, not S3 throttling.
- ✓
Split the large files into smaller parts (e.g., 100 MB each) and use parallel COPY.
Why this is correct
Smaller files reduce per-object throttling and allow higher parallelism.
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.