DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer notices that an AWS Glue ETL job processing data from Amazon S3 to Amazon Redshift has been failing intermittently with the error 'S3ServiceException: SlowDown'. Which action is MOST likely to resolve this issue?
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
✓
Implement exponential backoff and retry logic in the Glue job.
The 'S3ServiceException: SlowDown' error indicates that the AWS Glue job is making requests to Amazon S3 at a rate that exceeds the bucket's request rate limits. Implementing exponential backoff and retry logic (option C) is the most effective solution because it reduces the effective request rate by introducing delays between retries, allowing S3 to recover from throttling. Option A is incorrect because increasing partitions would likely increase the number of concurrent requests, exacerbating throttling. Option B is incorrect because switching to a larger worker type does not affect the rate of S3 requests. Option D is incorrect because S3 Transfer Acceleration improves network transfer speed but does not reduce request throttling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the number of partitions in the Glue job to parallelize reads.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing partitions may increase S3 request rate, worsening throttling.
- ✗
Switch from a Standard to a G.2X large Glue worker type.
Why it's wrong here
Instance type does not affect S3 request rate.
- ✓
Implement exponential backoff and retry logic in the Glue job.
Why this is correct
Exponential backoff reduces request rate and handles throttling gracefully.
- ✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the source bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration improves speed but does not reduce throttling.
Visual reference
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
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.