- A
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why wrong: Transfer Acceleration still uses the internet and may not meet bandwidth constraints.
- B
AWS Snowball Edge
Snowball is a physical device that can transfer large data quickly.
- C
AWS Direct Connect with DataSync
Why wrong: Direct Connect requires setup time and may not be feasible within a week.
- D
AWS DataSync over a VPN connection
Why wrong: VPN may still be limited by bandwidth.
Question 961 of 1,786
AWS Snowball Edge for Offline Data Transfer — Large Scale Migration
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 needs to transfer 20 TB of historical data from an on-premises Hadoop cluster to Amazon S3. The network bandwidth is limited and the transfer must complete within one week. Which service should the company use?
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
✓
AWS Snowball Edge
Option B is correct because AWS Snowball Edge is designed for large-scale data transfers (up to 80 TB per device) over limited bandwidth. It physically ships the data, bypassing network constraints entirely. The requirement of 20 TB within one week with limited bandwidth makes Snowball the ideal choice. Option A is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration still uses the internet and cannot guarantee completion within a week with limited bandwidth. Option C is wrong because Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection but requires sufficient bandwidth; if bandwidth is limited, it cannot complete the transfer in time. Option D is wrong because DataSync over VPN still relies on the internet bandwidth and would not meet the deadline.
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.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration still uses the internet and may not meet bandwidth constraints.
- ✓
AWS Snowball Edge
Why this is correct
Snowball is a physical device that can transfer large data quickly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect with DataSync
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect requires setup time and may not be feasible within a week.
- ✗
AWS DataSync over a VPN connection
Why it's wrong here
VPN may still be limited by bandwidth.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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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: AWS Snowball Edge — Option B is correct because AWS Snowball Edge is designed for large-scale data transfers (up to 80 TB per device) over limited bandwidth. It physically ships the data, bypassing network constraints entirely. The requirement of 20 TB within one week with limited bandwidth makes Snowball the ideal choice. Option A is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration still uses the internet and cannot guarantee completion within a week with limited bandwidth. Option C is wrong because Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection but requires sufficient bandwidth; if bandwidth is limited, it cannot complete the transfer in time. Option D is wrong because DataSync over VPN still relies on the internet bandwidth and would not meet the deadline.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company needs to transfer 10 TB of historical data from an on-premises HDFS cluster to Amazon S3. The data is stored on a single 20 TB disk. The network link to AWS has a bandwidth of 1 Gbps. The transfer must be completed within 2 days. Which solution meets these requirements?
easy- ✓ A.Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the data physically.
- B.Use Amazon Kinesis Data Streams to stream data to S3.
- C.Use AWS DMS to migrate data from HDFS to S3.
- D.Use AWS CLI to copy data directly to S3 over the network.
Why A: AWS Snowball Edge is the correct solution because it can physically transfer 10 TB of data from a single 20 TB disk within the 2-day window, bypassing the network bandwidth limitation. With a 1 Gbps link, the theoretical maximum transfer of 10 TB would take approximately 22.2 hours under ideal conditions, but real-world overhead, latency, and potential congestion make it unreliable to complete within 2 days. Snowball Edge provides a petabyte-scale physical transport solution that avoids network constraints entirely.
Variation 2. A company needs to transfer 50 TB of historical data from an on-premises HDFS cluster to Amazon S3. The network bandwidth is limited to 1 Gbps, and the transfer must complete within 10 days. The data is compressible. Which solution is MOST appropriate?
hard- A.Use AWS DataSync over a Direct Connect connection.
- B.Use Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration with multipart uploads.
- C.Use multiple parallel AWS CLI sync commands over the internet.
- ✓ D.Use AWS Snowball Edge to physically ship the data.
Why D: Option D is correct. AWS Snowball Edge is a physical device that can transfer large volumes of data quickly, bypassing network bandwidth limitations. With a 1 Gbps link, transferring 50 TB would take approximately 111 hours (50 TB * 8 bits/byte / 1 Gbps = 400,000 seconds ≈ 111 hours) without considering overhead, which could exceed the 10-day window. Option A (AWS DataSync over Direct Connect) still relies on network bandwidth and would be too slow. Option B (Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration) optimizes internet transfers but does not bypass the bandwidth constraint. Option C (multiple parallel AWS CLI sync commands) also uses the network and would not overcome the 1 Gbps limit. Therefore, Snowball Edge is the most appropriate solution for large-scale offline data transfer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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