- A
AWS Glue
Why wrong: Glue is for ETL jobs, not ad-hoc queries.
- B
Amazon Redshift Spectrum
Why wrong: Spectrum requires a Redshift cluster.
- C
Amazon EMR
Why wrong: EMR requires provisioning and managing a cluster.
- D
Amazon Athena
Athena is serverless and supports SQL queries directly on S3 data.
Question 837 of 1,786
DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 company wants to transform data in Amazon S3 using SQL queries without provisioning servers. The transformations are ad-hoc and run occasionally. Which service should be used?
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
✓
Amazon Athena
Amazon Athena is the correct choice because it enables serverless, ad-hoc SQL querying directly on data stored in Amazon S3 without requiring any infrastructure provisioning. Since the transformations are occasional and ad-hoc, Athena's pay-per-query model and zero setup overhead align perfectly with the requirement.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Glue
Why it's wrong here
Glue is for ETL jobs, not ad-hoc queries.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift Spectrum
Why it's wrong here
Spectrum requires a Redshift cluster.
- ✗
Amazon EMR
Why it's wrong here
EMR requires provisioning and managing a cluster.
- ✓
Amazon Athena
Why this is correct
Athena is serverless and supports SQL queries directly on S3 data.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Glue's ability to run SQL via Spark SQL or Athena as a transformation engine, but Glue requires provisioning resources and is not designed for ad-hoc serverless SQL queries.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Athena uses PrestoDB under the hood, a distributed SQL query engine that can read data directly from S3 in formats like Parquet, ORC, or JSON. It supports partitioning and columnar formats to reduce data scanned and cost, and integrates with AWS Glue Data Catalog for schema management. In real-world scenarios, Athena is ideal for one-off analytics or quick data validation, but its performance degrades with very large, unoptimized datasets due to full table scans.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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Data Ingestion and Transformation — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DEA-C01 question test?
Data Ingestion and Transformation — This question tests Data Ingestion and Transformation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon Athena — Amazon Athena is the correct choice because it enables serverless, ad-hoc SQL querying directly on data stored in Amazon S3 without requiring any infrastructure provisioning. Since the transformations are occasional and ad-hoc, Athena's pay-per-query model and zero setup overhead align perfectly with the requirement.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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