Question 263 of 1,786
Data Store ManagementhardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question

This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 data engineering team is designing a data lake on Amazon S3. They need to store raw data in its original format and transformed data in Parquet. The data is accessed by multiple analytics services, including Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift Spectrum. Compliance requirements mandate that all data be encrypted at rest with AWS KMS and that the encryption keys be rotated every 90 days. Which S3 bucket configuration meets these requirements?

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

Use SSE-KMS with a customer-managed KMS key that has automatic key rotation enabled.

Option A is correct because SSE-KMS with a customer-managed KMS key allows you to implement custom key rotation, such as every 90 days, by creating new keys and updating the bucket policy or key alias. AWS KMS automatic key rotation for customer-managed keys occurs yearly, not every 90 days, but you can achieve a 90-day rotation schedule manually or through automation (e.g., AWS Lambda). SSE-C requires manual key management and does not integrate with AWS services like Amazon Athena. SSE-S3 does not support configurable rotation, and the default encryption option (C) does not meet compliance if rotation is required.

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.

  • Use SSE-KMS with a customer-managed KMS key that has automatic key rotation enabled.

    Why this is correct

    SSE-KMS with automatic rotation meets compliance requirements.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • Use SSE-C with client-managed keys and rotate them manually.

    Why it's wrong here

    SSE-C requires manual key rotation and does not use KMS.

  • Use a bucket policy to enforce encryption and rely on default S3 encryption.

    Why it's wrong here

    Bucket policies do not encrypt data; they only enforce encryption.

  • Use SSE-S3 with default encryption enabled.

    Why it's wrong here

    SSE-S3 does not support customer-managed key rotation.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap is that candidates assume SSE-S3 or default encryption meets the 90-day rotation requirement because AWS rotates keys automatically, but they overlook that SSE-S3 key rotation is not configurable—it follows AWS-managed rotation, which is not guaranteed every 90 days. SSE-KMS with a customer-managed key is the only option that allows a custom rotation schedule, even though it may require additional automation beyond the automatic yearly rotation.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

AWS KMS customer-managed keys support automatic annual rotation by default, but for a 90-day rotation, you must implement a custom solution (e.g., a scheduled Lambda function that creates a new KMS key and updates the S3 bucket policy or uses key aliases). Under the hood, KMS uses envelope encryption: the data is encrypted with a data key, which is then encrypted by the KMS key; rotating the KMS key does not re-encrypt existing objects unless you explicitly re-encrypt them. In real-world scenarios, compliance teams often require key rotation every 90 days for regulatory standards like PCI DSS, and SSE-KMS with custom rotation is the only S3 option that provides this granularity.

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 ClassMin DurationRetrievalUse Case
S3 StandardNoneImmediateFrequently accessed data
S3 Standard-IA30 daysImmediateInfrequent access, rapid retrieval
S3 One Zone-IA30 daysImmediateNon-critical infrequent data
S3 Intelligent-TieringNoneImmediate–hoursUnknown or changing access patterns
S3 Glacier Instant90 daysMillisecondsArchive with instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible90 daysMinutes–hoursArchive, flexible retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive180 daysHoursLong-term compliance archive

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DEA-C01 question test?

Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Use SSE-KMS with a customer-managed KMS key that has automatic key rotation enabled. — Option A is correct because SSE-KMS with a customer-managed KMS key allows you to implement custom key rotation, such as every 90 days, by creating new keys and updating the bucket policy or key alias. AWS KMS automatic key rotation for customer-managed keys occurs yearly, not every 90 days, but you can achieve a 90-day rotation schedule manually or through automation (e.g., AWS Lambda). SSE-C requires manual key management and does not integrate with AWS services like Amazon Athena. SSE-S3 does not support configurable rotation, and the default encryption option (C) does not meet compliance if rotation is required.

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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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026

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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.