DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
A data engineer needs to load data from an Amazon DynamoDB table into an Amazon S3 data lake nightly. The table is large and the engineer wants to avoid consuming provisioned read capacity on the live table. Which approach should the engineer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any read of DynamoDB consumes read capacity, when the export-to-S3 feature reads from storage and bypasses provisioned throughput.
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
✓
Use the DynamoDB export to Amazon S3 feature to export a point-in-time snapshot to S3 without consuming read capacity.
DynamoDB export to S3 produces a point-in-time snapshot directly in Amazon S3 without consuming read capacity on the source table, making it ideal for nightly analytics loads that must not impact production traffic. The exported data is written in a format suitable for downstream processing by services such as Athena or Glue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create an Amazon ElastiCache for Redis cluster and replicate the DynamoDB table into it, then export from Redis to Amazon S3.
Why it's wrong here
ElastiCache for Redis is an in-memory cache, not a durable replication target for bulk export. Replicating a large DynamoDB table into Redis would require custom sync logic, consume memory, and add significant cost and complexity without providing a native S3 export path.
- ✓
Use the DynamoDB export to Amazon S3 feature to export a point-in-time snapshot to S3 without consuming read capacity.
Why this is correct
DynamoDB export to S3 creates a full point-in-time snapshot in S3 without consuming provisioned read capacity on the table, because it reads from the underlying storage. It is designed for analytics and backup use cases, and the resulting data can be queried or transformed directly in S3.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB Streams on the table and use an AWS Lambda function to write each change to Amazon S3 in near real time.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB Streams captures item-level changes for event-driven processing, not a nightly bulk export. It would require continuous Lambda invocations and custom logic, and it does not provide a consistent point-in-time snapshot of the full table for a nightly batch load.
- ✗
Use AWS Glue with a DynamoDB connection and read the table directly with the DynamoDB reader, accepting the consumed read capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Reading the table directly with the Glue DynamoDB reader consumes read capacity units on the live table, which the engineer explicitly wants to avoid. It also scans the table through the DynamoDB API, which can throttle production traffic and increase latency for application workloads.
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 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.