DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer needs to store semi-structured JSON data that is accessed infrequently but must be retrievable within minutes when needed. The data will be stored for 7 years for compliance. Which storage solution is MOST cost-effective?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'infrequent access' with 'One Zone-Infrequent Access' or 'Standard-IA,' overlooking that Glacier Deep Archive is specifically designed for archival compliance data with retrieval times that can be expedited to minutes, not hours.
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
✓
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for data that is accessed infrequently, requires retrieval within minutes (using expedited retrieval), and must be stored for 7 years for compliance. It offers the lowest storage cost among S3 classes, making it ideal for long-term archival of semi-structured JSON data with minimal access needs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access
Why it's wrong here
Not resilient to AZ failures, not suitable for long-term compliance.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Standard
Why it's wrong here
Higher cost for infrequent access and long-term storage.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Why it's wrong here
Optimizes cost but has monitoring fees and may not be cheapest for archival.
- ✓
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Why this is correct
Lowest cost for long-term archival with retrieval within 12 hours (standard) or minutes (expedited at extra cost).
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
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