- A
Transition to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, and expire after 2555 days.
Why wrong: One Zone-IA is not suitable for compliance due to lack of durability.
- B
Transition to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 90 days and expire after 2555 days.
Why wrong: Glacier Flexible Retrieval is more expensive than Deep Archive for long-term storage.
- C
Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days and expire after 2555 days.
This minimizes cost by moving to the cheapest storage class early and retaining for 7 years.
- D
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, and expire after 2555 days.
Why wrong: Keeping in Standard-IA for 1 year is more expensive than transitioning earlier.
S3 Lifecycle — Glacier Deep Archive for Small Objects
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 company stores IoT sensor data in an Amazon S3 bucket. The data is ingested every minute and each object is about 10 KB. The data must be stored for at least 7 years for compliance. Which lifecycle policy configuration minimizes storage costs?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"least"Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
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
Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days and expire after 2555 days.
Option C is correct because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class for long-term archival data, and transitioning directly after 30 days minimizes costs for 10 KB objects that are accessed infrequently. The 2555-day expiration (7 years) meets the compliance requirement. Other options incur higher costs by using more expensive intermediate tiers or by delaying the transition to the cheapest storage class.
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.
- ✗
Transition to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, and expire after 2555 days.
Why it's wrong here
One Zone-IA is not suitable for compliance due to lack of durability.
- ✗
Transition to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 90 days and expire after 2555 days.
Why it's wrong here
Glacier Flexible Retrieval is more expensive than Deep Archive for long-term storage.
- ✓
Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days and expire after 2555 days.
Why this is correct
This minimizes cost by moving to the cheapest storage class early and retaining for 7 years.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days, then to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 365 days, and expire after 2555 days.
Why it's wrong here
Keeping in Standard-IA for 1 year is more expensive than transitioning earlier.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The DEA-C01 exam often tests the misconception that using multiple intermediate transitions (e.g., Standard-IA then Glacier) is always more cost-effective, but for long-term archival of small objects, the cheapest path is to go directly to the lowest-cost storage class as soon as the minimum transition period allows.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 Glacier Deep Archive has a minimum storage charge of 40 KB per object, so 10 KB objects are billed as 40 KB, but this applies to all storage classes with minimum sizes (e.g., Standard-IA and One Zone-IA also have 128 KB minimums). The key cost optimization is to minimize the time spent in more expensive tiers; transitioning directly to Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days avoids the higher per-GB costs of intermediate classes. Additionally, lifecycle policies evaluate object size and age, and for small objects, the per-object overhead in retrieval costs (e.g., $0.0001 per 1000 requests) is negligible compared to storage savings.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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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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: Transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days and expire after 2555 days. — Option C is correct because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class for long-term archival data, and transitioning directly after 30 days minimizes costs for 10 KB objects that are accessed infrequently. The 2555-day expiration (7 years) meets the compliance requirement. Other options incur higher costs by using more expensive intermediate tiers or by delaying the transition to the cheapest storage class.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
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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