The correct answer is to transition the data to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days and expire it after 2555 days. This configuration directly satisfies the 7-year retention requirement by using a lifecycle policy that first keeps objects in a readily accessible class for the initial year, then moves them to the lowest-cost archival tier—Glacier Deep Archive—for the remaining six years of infrequent access, before triggering automatic deletion at the 2555-day mark. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your ability to map business rules to S3 lifecycle actions, specifically distinguishing between transition actions (for cost optimization) and expiration actions (for compliance-driven deletion). A common trap is confusing the 365-day transition threshold with the deletion date, or selecting a higher-cost tier like Glacier Flexible Retrieval when Deep Archive is sufficient. Remember the memory tip: “One year to archive, seven years to vanish”—365 days for the transition, 2555 days for the expiration.
DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company wants to store historical financial data for 7 years with immediate access for the first year and then infrequent access. After 7 years, the data must be automatically deleted. Which S3 lifecycle policy should be configured?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, expire after 2555 days
Option D is correct because it meets all requirements: immediate access for the first year (no transition before 365 days), then transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for infrequent access and cost savings, with automatic deletion after 7 years (2555 days). S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for long-term archival data that is rarely accessed, and the 2555-day expiration ensures compliance with the 7-year retention policy.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Standard-IA after 30 days, expire after 2555 days
Why it's wrong here
Standard-IA is for infrequent access but not optimal for 7 years.
✗
Transition to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 365 days, expire after 2555 days
Why it's wrong here
Glacier Flexible is more expensive than Deep Archive for long-term archival.
✗
Transition to S3 One Zone-IA after 90 days, expire after 365 days
Why it's wrong here
Expires after 1 year, not 7 years.
✓
Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, expire after 2555 days
Why this is correct
This is cost-effective: immediate access for 1 year, then low-cost storage, delete after 7 years.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'immediate access for the first year' with needing a transition to a cheaper tier early, or they forget to include an expiration action, leading them to choose Option B which has no deletion mechanism.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 Lifecycle policies use 'Transition' actions to move objects between storage classes and 'Expiration' actions to delete objects. The 'Days' parameter is calculated from the object's creation date. S3 Glacier Deep Archive has a retrieval time of 12-48 hours, which aligns with 'infrequent access' after the first year. The 2555-day expiration is exactly 7 years (365 days/year * 7), but note that leap years are not accounted for in S3 lifecycle calculations, so the actual deletion may occur slightly earlier or later depending on the object's creation date.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, expire after 2555 days — Option D is correct because it meets all requirements: immediate access for the first year (no transition before 365 days), then transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for infrequent access and cost savings, with automatic deletion after 7 years (2555 days). S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for long-term archival data that is rarely accessed, and the 2555-day expiration ensures compliance with the 7-year retention policy.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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