DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company uses Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to deliver streaming log data to an Amazon S3 bucket. The delivery stream uses dynamic partitioning with a custom prefix. Recently, the delivery stream has been failing with the error 'InvalidArgumentException: The number of partitions exceeds the limit'. What is the likely cause?
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
✓
The incoming data contains more distinct partition key values than the allowed limit.
The error 'InvalidArgumentException: The number of partitions exceeds the limit' occurs when Kinesis Data Firehose dynamic partitioning receives more distinct partition key values than the allowed limit (default 500 distinct values per stream). Option A correctly identifies this cause. Option B is wrong because S3 bucket policy restrictions would cause AccessDenied errors, not partition limit errors. Option C is wrong because buffer size and interval affect file size and delivery frequency, not partition count. Option D is wrong because throughput limits cause ProvisionedThroughputExceededException, not partition limit errors.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The incoming data contains more distinct partition key values than the allowed limit.
Why this is correct
Firehose dynamic partitioning has a limit on distinct partition values per batch.
- ✗
The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that restricts the number of prefixes.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies do not limit prefixes; they control permissions.
- ✗
The buffer size and interval are set too low, causing many small files.
Why it's wrong here
Buffer settings affect file size, not partition count.
- ✗
The data volume exceeds the maximum throughput of the delivery stream.
Why it's wrong here
Throughput limits cause throttling, not partition count errors.
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 |
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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.