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.
Network Topology
A data engineer runs the describe-stream command and sees the output above. The stream has a retention period of 24 hours. The engineer needs to ensure that consumers can replay data for up to 7 days. Which action is required?
Network Topology
A
Increase the number of shards to allow more data storage.
Why wrong: Shards affect throughput, not retention duration.
B
Delete the stream and recreate it with a longer retention period.
Why wrong: Retention can be changed without deleting the stream.
C
Use the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API to set retention to 168 hours.
The API can increase retention up to 365 days.
D
Create new consumer applications that read from the stream.
Why wrong: Consumers do not change retention settings.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API to set retention to 168 hours.
The describe-stream output shows a retention period of 24 hours, but the requirement is to allow consumers to replay data for up to 7 days (168 hours). Amazon Kinesis Data Streams supports modifying the retention period dynamically without recreating the stream, using the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API or the update-shard-count command. Option C correctly uses this API to set retention to 168 hours, which is the maximum supported retention period for Kinesis Data Streams.
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.
✗
Increase the number of shards to allow more data storage.
Why it's wrong here
Shards affect throughput, not retention duration.
✗
Delete the stream and recreate it with a longer retention period.
Why it's wrong here
Retention can be changed without deleting the stream.
✓
Use the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API to set retention to 168 hours.
Why this is correct
The API can increase retention up to 365 days.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create new consumer applications that read from the stream.
Why it's wrong here
Consumers do not change retention settings.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse shard count with storage capacity, assuming that more shards allow more data to be stored, when in fact shards only control throughput and retention is a separate, configurable parameter.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Kinesis Data Streams retains records for a default of 24 hours, but you can extend retention up to 8760 hours (365 days) using the UpdateStreamMode or IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API. The retention period is applied at the stream level, not per shard, and changing it does not affect the number of shards or the stream's throughput. Under the hood, Kinesis uses a time-based expiry mechanism where records are automatically deleted once the retention period elapses, so increasing retention allows consumers to replay older records without any additional infrastructure changes.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: Use the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API to set retention to 168 hours. — The describe-stream output shows a retention period of 24 hours, but the requirement is to allow consumers to replay data for up to 7 days (168 hours). Amazon Kinesis Data Streams supports modifying the retention period dynamically without recreating the stream, using the IncreaseStreamRetentionPeriod API or the update-shard-count command. Option C correctly uses this API to set retention to 168 hours, which is the maximum supported retention period for Kinesis Data Streams.
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.
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Question Discussion
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