DEA-C01 S3 Lifecycle Policy Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a data lake on Amazon S3. The data is accessed frequently for the first 30 days, then rarely after that. Which lifecycle policy is MOST cost-effective?
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-Infrequent Access (Standard-IA) after 30 days.
Transitioning to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (Standard-IA) after 30 days is the most cost-effective because it reduces storage costs for data that is rarely accessed while maintaining low latency and high durability. Option B (One Zone-IA) offers lower durability and is not recommended for a data lake. Option C (Glacier Deep Archive) has high retrieval times, which may not be suitable even for rare access. Option D (keeping in Standard for 90 days then deleting) is more expensive for the first 90 days and deletes data that might still be needed.
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-Infrequent Access (Standard-IA) after 30 days.
Why this is correct
Standard-IA is cost-effective for infrequently accessed data with low latency.
- ✗
Transition to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
One Zone-IA is less durable and may not be cost-effective for all use cases.
- ✗
Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
Deep Archive has long retrieval times and is for archival.
- ✗
Keep in S3 Standard for 90 days, then delete.
Why it's wrong here
Keeping in Standard for 90 days is more expensive than transitioning earlier.
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.