DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data pipeline uses AWS Step Functions to orchestrate multiple Lambda functions for data transformation. The pipeline occasionally fails with a 'StateMachineExecutionLimitExceeded' error. What is the MOST likely cause?
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
✓
The account has reached the maximum number of concurrent state machine executions.
Step Functions has a default limit on concurrent executions (e.g., 1 million per account per region). Option A is wrong because Lambda concurrency limits would produce a different error. Option B is wrong because API Gateway is not involved. Option D is wrong because state machine definition does not affect execution limits.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The API Gateway endpoint used by Step Functions has a rate limit.
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions does not use API Gateway.
- ✗
The Lambda functions have reached their concurrent execution limit.
Why it's wrong here
Lambda limits cause throttling errors, not state machine execution limit errors.
- ✓
The account has reached the maximum number of concurrent state machine executions.
Why this is correct
Step Functions has a limit on concurrent executions; increase the limit or reduce concurrency.
- ✗
The state machine definition has a syntax error causing infinite loops.
Why it's wrong here
Syntax errors cause different errors, not execution limit.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.