DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question

A data engineer needs to schedule a daily AWS Glue job that extracts data from Amazon S3 and loads it into Amazon Redshift. The engineer wants to ensure the job runs at 2:00 AM UTC every day and can be monitored for failures. What is the simplest way to achieve this?

⚠ Common exam trap

The trap here is overcomplicating the solution by involving additional services like Lambda or Step Functions when AWS Glue provides a built-in scheduling feature.

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 AWS Glue triggers to schedule the job with a cron expression.

AWS Glue triggers are the native scheduling mechanism for Glue jobs. Creating a scheduled trigger with a cron expression allows the job to run automatically at specified times. This approach is simple, requires no additional services, and provides monitoring through Glue job run statuses and CloudWatch metrics. The cron expression '0 2 * * ? *' schedules the job for 2:00 AM UTC daily.

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 AWS Glue triggers to schedule the job with a cron expression.
Why this is correct
Correct. AWS Glue triggers allow you to schedule jobs using cron expressions. You can create a trigger of type SCHEDULED, set the cron expression to '0 2 * * ? *' for 2:00 AM UTC daily, and attach it to the Glue job. This is the simplest and most native way to schedule Glue jobs, with built-in monitoring through Glue job run metrics and CloudWatch.
✗
Create an AWS Lambda function that triggers the Glue job using a cron expression in Amazon EventBridge.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While this approach works, it is not the simplest. Using AWS Lambda adds an extra component and complexity. The engineer would need to write and maintain Lambda code, and handle error retries. A more direct scheduling method exists within AWS Glue itself, which is simpler and requires less overhead.
✗
Use Amazon EventBridge Scheduler to invoke the Glue job directly.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Amazon EventBridge Scheduler can invoke AWS Glue jobs, but it is a separate service that requires additional setup. While it is a valid approach, it is not the simplest because you need to configure a schedule and a target. AWS Glue triggers are integrated into the Glue service and provide a more streamlined experience for scheduling Glue jobs.
✗
Create an AWS Step Functions state machine with a Wait state and a Glue job task.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Step Functions is a powerful orchestration tool, but it is overkill for simple scheduling. It requires defining a state machine, which adds complexity and cost. While it can schedule jobs, it is not the simplest solution for a single daily job. AWS Glue triggers are designed for this purpose and require less configuration.

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

DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question