DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is using AWS Step Functions to orchestrate a series of AWS Glue jobs. The state machine includes a task that runs an AWS Glue job and then waits for its completion. The engineer notices that the Step Functions execution times out after 15 minutes, even though the Glue job takes about 30 minutes to complete. The Step Functions state machine has a timeout of 1 hour. What is the most likely cause of the timeout?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming the state machine's overall timeout is the only timeout that matters, overlooking that individual tasks can have their own shorter timeouts.
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 Step Functions task has a TimeoutSeconds value set to 900, overriding the state machine timeout.
The most likely cause is that the Step Functions task has a TimeoutSeconds parameter set to 900 seconds (15 minutes). This parameter overrides the state machine's timeout for that specific task. To allow the Glue job to run for its full duration, the engineer should increase the task timeout to a value greater than the expected job runtime, or remove it to rely on the state machine's timeout.
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 AWS Glue job is running in a VPC without a NAT gateway, causing network timeouts.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Network issues would cause the Glue job itself to fail or stall, but the Step Functions execution would likely fail with a different error, such as a connection timeout or a Glue job failure. The specific 15-minute timeout aligns with a task-level timeout setting, not a network misconfiguration. VPC networking does not impose a 15-minute limit.
- ✗
The Step Functions task is using the optimized integration for AWS Glue, which has a maximum timeout of 15 minutes.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The optimized integration for AWS Glue (arn:aws:states:::glue:startJobRun.sync) does not have a 15-minute limit; it can run up to one year. The issue is more likely related to the task's timeout setting or the use of a wait loop with a shorter timeout. The optimized integration is designed for long-running jobs.
- ✗
The AWS Glue job is not sending a heartbeat to Step Functions, so the task times out.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Step Functions does not rely on heartbeats from Glue jobs. The integration uses the Glue API to poll for job status. The timeout is likely due to a misconfigured task timeout or the use of a synchronous integration that has a maximum duration. Heartbeats are not part of the AWS Glue Step Functions integration.
- ✓
The Step Functions task has a TimeoutSeconds value set to 900, overriding the state machine timeout.
Why this is correct
Correct. In Step Functions, individual tasks can have their own timeout. If the task's TimeoutSeconds is set to 900 (15 minutes), it will fail after that duration regardless of the state machine's overall timeout. This is a common misconfiguration when the task timeout is set lower than the expected job duration. The engineer must increase the task timeout or remove it.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.