DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company stores its application logs in Amazon S3. The logs are generated daily and need to be retained for 3 years for compliance. The logs are accessed frequently for the first 30 days, occasionally for the next 6 months, and rarely after that. The data engineering team wants to minimize storage costs while ensuring that logs are available for retrieval within 12 hours for the first 6 months and within 48 hours after that. The team also wants to automatically delete logs after 3 years. Which lifecycle policy should the team implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose Option C (S3 Glacier) thinking it is the cheapest cold storage, but S3 Glacier Deep Archive is actually the lowest-cost option for data that is rarely accessed and can tolerate a 12-hour retrieval time, which still satisfies the 48-hour requirement.
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
✓
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 6 months, delete after 3 years.
It aligns with the access patterns and retrieval requirements: S3 Standard-IA after 30 days for occasional access with immediate retrieval, then S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 6 months for rare access with a 12-hour retrieval time (via expedited or standard retrieval), and deletion after 3 years. This minimizes storage costs while meeting the 48-hour retrieval window for older logs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Transition to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days, delete after 6 months.
Why it's wrong here
Does not retain logs for 3 years.
- ✗
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, delete after 3 years.
Why it's wrong here
Standard-IA cost for 2.5 years is higher than Deep Archive.
- ✗
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, to S3 Glacier after 6 months, delete after 3 years.
Why it's wrong here
Glacier is more expensive than Deep Archive for rarely accessed data.
- ✓
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 6 months, delete after 3 years.
Why this is correct
Meets cost and retrieval time requirements.
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.