This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A data engineer needs to store semi-structured JSON logs from multiple sources in a centralized data store for querying using SQL. The logs are immutable and need to be retained for 90 days. Which AWS service should be used?
Amazon RDS for MySQL.
Why wrong: Relational database not optimized for semi-structured logs.
Amazon DynamoDB.
Why wrong: NoSQL but not designed for SQL queries.
Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena.
S3 stores JSON logs, Athena enables SQL queries.
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis.
Why wrong: In-memory cache, not a durable log store.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena.
Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena is the correct choice because S3 provides durable, cost-effective storage for immutable semi-structured JSON logs, and Athena enables serverless SQL querying directly against the data in S3 without needing to load or transform it. This combination meets the 90-day retention requirement and supports querying semi-structured data using standard SQL via Athena's built-in JSON SerDe.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon RDS for MySQL.
Why it's wrong here
Relational database not optimized for semi-structured logs.
Amazon DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
NoSQL but not designed for SQL queries.
Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena.
Why this is correct
S3 stores JSON logs, Athena enables SQL queries.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis.
Why it's wrong here
In-memory cache, not a durable log store.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may choose DynamoDB for its JSON support and querying flexibility, overlooking that it is not designed for cost-effective long-term retention of immutable logs and lacks native SQL querying, while S3 with Athena directly addresses both requirements.
Detailed technical explanation
Athena uses Presto under the hood with a JSON SerDe (org.apache.hive.hcatalog.data.JsonSerDe) to parse semi-structured JSON logs stored in S3, allowing schema-on-read without ETL. The 90-day retention can be managed via S3 Lifecycle policies to automatically expire objects after 90 days, ensuring cost efficiency. A real-world scenario is ingesting application logs from multiple microservices into S3 via Kinesis Firehose, then querying them with Athena for debugging or analytics without provisioning any compute.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
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FAQ
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena. — Amazon S3 with Amazon Athena is the correct choice because S3 provides durable, cost-effective storage for immutable semi-structured JSON logs, and Athena enables serverless SQL querying directly against the data in S3 without needing to load or transform it. This combination meets the 90-day retention requirement and supports querying semi-structured data using standard SQL via Athena's built-in JSON SerDe.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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