DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data pipeline uses AWS Glue to process data from Amazon S3. The job fails with an 'OutOfMemoryError' during the transformation phase. Which action should the data engineer take 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
✓
Increase the number of DPUs (Data Processing Units) for the Glue job.
The OutOfMemoryError occurs because the Glue job does not have enough memory allocated. Increasing the number of DPUs (Data Processing Units) increases both memory and processing capacity, directly resolving the issue. Option A (S3 server-side encryption) affects data security, not memory. Option B (increasing data partitions) may help parallelism but does not directly increase memory per executor. Option C (changing to Parquet) can reduce data volume but does not guarantee sufficient memory for transformation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable S3 server-side encryption.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption is unrelated to job memory errors.
- ✗
Increase the number of partitions in the input data.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing partitions may increase parallelism but does not directly increase memory per worker.
- ✗
Change the data format from CSV to Parquet.
Why it's wrong here
Changing format improves compression and read performance but does not address memory during transformation.
- ✓
Increase the number of DPUs (Data Processing Units) for the Glue job.
Why this is correct
More DPUs provide additional memory and compute resources to handle large transformations.
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.