DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer needs to transfer 10 TB of data from an on-premises Hadoop cluster to Amazon S3. The network bandwidth is limited to 100 Mbps, and the transfer must be completed within 48 hours. Which solution meets the requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume S3 Transfer Acceleration or Direct Connect can magically overcome a hard bandwidth cap, but neither increases the last-mile bandwidth; the only way to transfer 10 TB in under 48 hours with a 100 Mbps link is to use an offline physical device like Snowball Edge.
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 Snowball Edge device to transfer data offline
The on-premises Hadoop cluster has 10 TB of data to transfer, but the network bandwidth is only 100 Mbps. At 100 Mbps, the theoretical maximum transfer rate is about 12.5 MB/s, which would take approximately 10 TB / 12.5 MB/s ≈ 800,000 seconds ≈ 222 hours — far exceeding the 48-hour window. AWS Snowball Edge is an offline, physical device that bypasses network constraints entirely, allowing you to transfer the data by shipping the device, which completes within days regardless of bandwidth.
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 DataSync to transfer data online
Why it's wrong here
At 100 Mbps, 10 TB needs roughly ten days, far beyond the 48-hour deadline, so an online transfer cannot meet it. DataSync is tempting because it is the standard managed service for S3 migrations, and it would be correct given sufficient bandwidth or a relaxed schedule.
- ✓
Use AWS Snowball Edge device to transfer data offline
Why this is correct
At 100 Mbps, transferring 10 TB over the network would take roughly ten days, far exceeding the 48-hour deadline. AWS Snowball Edge ships the data physically, sidestepping the bandwidth constraint entirely and meeting the required completion window.
- ✗
Use S3 Transfer Acceleration over the internet
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads over the public internet by routing through edge locations, but the 100 Mbps origin uplink remains the bottleneck, so 10 TB still exceeds 48 hours. It is tempting because it is an S3-native option, yet it cannot overcome constrained source bandwidth.
- ✗
Set up AWS Direct Connect to increase bandwidth
Why it's wrong here
Provisioning Direct Connect takes weeks to install and does not raise the existing 100 Mbps circuit within 48 hours. It is tempting because dedicated bandwidth genuinely accelerates large transfers, but it would be the right choice for a planned migration with lead time, not this deadline.
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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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.