DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A data engineer is troubleshooting a Kinesis Data Firehose delivery stream that is failing to deliver data to an Amazon S3 bucket. The stream is configured with a Lambda transformation function. The CloudWatch logs show that the Lambda function is timing out. Which action should the engineer take to resolve the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse a Lambda timeout with a performance issue and immediately choose to increase memory (Option D) or reduce batch size (Option C), when the correct first step is to increase the timeout setting as indicated by the specific CloudWatch error.
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
✓
Increase the Lambda function timeout setting.
The CloudWatch logs indicate the Lambda function is timing out. The default Lambda timeout for a Firehose transformation is 60 seconds, and if the function's processing exceeds this limit, it will fail. Increasing the Lambda function timeout setting (Option B) directly addresses this by allowing the function more time to complete its execution before being terminated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reduce the Firehose buffer interval.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing buffer interval may cause more small batches but does not fix timeout.
- ✓
Increase the Lambda function timeout setting.
Why this is correct
Extending timeout allows more time for processing.
- ✗
Decrease the Lambda function's batch size in Firehose.
Why it's wrong here
Batch size is controlled by Firehose, not Lambda configuration.
- ✗
Increase the memory allocated to the Lambda function.
Why it's wrong here
Timeout is a duration issue, not memory.
Visual reference
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.