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.
Refer to the exhibit. A CloudFormation stack outputs the Glue job name and S3 bucket names. The Glue job transforms CSV files from the raw bucket to Parquet in the processed bucket. However, the Glue job is failing with an error that it cannot write to the processed bucket. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
The Glue job does not have permission to write to the processed bucket
Missing s3:PutObject on processed-bucket.
The raw data bucket is in a different region
Why wrong: Would cause read failure, not write.
The Glue job is not using the correct worker type
Why wrong: Worker type affects performance, not permissions.
The Glue job is using an incorrect file format
Why wrong: Would cause conversion error, not permission error.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
The Glue job does not have permission to write to the processed bucket
The most likely cause is that the Glue job's IAM role lacks the necessary permissions (e.g., s3:PutObject, s3:ListBucket) on the processed bucket. AWS Glue jobs require an IAM role with policies that grant write access to the target S3 bucket; without these permissions, the job fails with a write error. This is a common misconfiguration when the role is scoped only to read from the raw bucket.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
The Glue job does not have permission to write to the processed bucket
Why this is correct
Missing s3:PutObject on processed-bucket.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
The raw data bucket is in a different region
Why it's wrong here
Would cause read failure, not write.
The Glue job is not using the correct worker type
Why it's wrong here
Worker type affects performance, not permissions.
The Glue job is using an incorrect file format
Why it's wrong here
Would cause conversion error, not permission error.
Common exam traps
The DEA-C01 exam often tests the misconception that S3 write failures are caused by region mismatches or file format issues, but the actual trap is that candidates overlook the IAM permission layer and attribute the error to non-permission factors like worker type or data format.
Detailed technical explanation
AWS Glue jobs execute under an IAM role that must have an attached policy granting s3:PutObject and s3:ListBucket on the target bucket's ARN (e.g., arn:aws:s3:::processed-bucket/*). The error surfaces when the Glue job's Spark DataFrame attempts to write via the Hadoop S3A connector, which checks bucket-level permissions before committing the output. In real-world scenarios, this often occurs when the role is created with a least-privilege policy that inadvertently omits the write action or uses a bucket policy that denies the role.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
| 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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FAQ
Data Ingestion and Transformation — This question tests Data Ingestion and Transformation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: The Glue job does not have permission to write to the processed bucket — The most likely cause is that the Glue job's IAM role lacks the necessary permissions (e.g., s3:PutObject, s3:ListBucket) on the processed bucket. AWS Glue jobs require an IAM role with policies that grant write access to the target S3 bucket; without these permissions, the job fails with a write error. This is a common misconfiguration when the role is scoped only to read from the raw bucket.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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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