DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a data lake on Amazon S3. The data lake will store raw data, transformed data, and curated datasets. The engineer needs to ensure that raw data is immutable (never overwritten or deleted) and that only authorized users can access the transformed data. Which combination of S3 features should the engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The DEA-C01 exam often tests the distinction between versioning (which preserves history but allows overwrites) and Object Lock (which enforces immutability), leading candidates to choose versioning when immutability is explicitly required.
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
✓
Enable S3 Object Lock in compliance mode on the raw data prefix and use bucket policies to restrict access to transformed data prefix.
S3 Object Lock in compliance mode enforces a write-once-read-many (WORM) model, preventing any user—including the root user—from overwriting or deleting raw data. Bucket policies then provide granular access control to restrict the transformed data prefix to authorized users only, meeting both immutability and access control requirements.
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 Lifecycle policies to archive raw data to S3 Glacier and set bucket policies for transformed data.
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle policies can delete objects, not prevent deletion.
- ✗
Enable S3 Versioning and use S3 Access Points for each prefix.
Why it's wrong here
Versioning does not prevent deletion; delete markers still allow object deletion.
- ✗
Enable default encryption with SSE-KMS and use S3 bucket policies to restrict access.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption does not prevent deletion or overwrite.
- ✓
Enable S3 Object Lock in compliance mode on the raw data prefix and use bucket policies to restrict access to transformed data prefix.
Why this is correct
Object Lock in compliance mode prevents writes and deletes; bucket policies control access.
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.