DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company stores sensitive customer data in an Amazon S3 bucket with versioning enabled. A data engineer accidentally deleted the current version of an object. What is the quickest way to restore the object to its previous state without additional data transfer costs?
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
✓
Delete the delete marker that was created by the deletion.
With S3 versioning enabled, deleting an object does not permanently remove it; instead, a delete marker is placed. To restore the object to its previous state, you simply remove the delete marker, which makes the previous version the current version again. Option A is incorrect because S3 does not have a Recycle Bin; S3 Batch Operations are for bulk actions but not for restoring from a recycle bin. Option C would not restore the object properly; copying the previous version to itself would create a new version, not restore the original. Option D is incorrect because the s3 sync command synchronizes objects between locations and does not restore previous versions.
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 S3 Batch Operations to restore the object from the Recycle Bin.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Batch Operations are for bulk actions; Recycle Bin is for deleted buckets, not objects.
- ✓
Delete the delete marker that was created by the deletion.
Why this is correct
Deleting an object in a versioned bucket inserts a delete marker rather than erasing prior versions. Removing that delete marker restores the object to its previous state instantly, with no data transfer and no re-upload, since the original version's bytes were never removed from the bucket.
- ✗
Copy the previous version from the bucket to itself.
Why it's wrong here
Copying a previous version to itself creates a new object version, incurring request and storage costs, and is not the quickest restoration. It is tempting because it uses familiar S3 copy semantics, and would be correct for promoting a specific version when delete markers are absent.
- ✗
Use the S3 sync command to restore the previous version.
Why it's wrong here
The S3 sync command compares source and destination prefixes and would re-upload or copy objects, adding transfer and request costs. It is tempting because sync is a common restore habit, and would be correct for reconciling a local directory with a bucket, not for removing a delete marker.
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.