The correct answer is to use AWS Snowball Edge for the physical transfer and S3 Transfer Acceleration to optimize the upload. Snowball Edge bypasses the 1 Gbps network bottleneck entirely by shipping the 50 TB of data as a physical appliance, which is essential when the limited bandwidth makes a pure network transfer impossible within 7 days. S3 Transfer Acceleration then speeds up the final upload from the Snowball to S3 by routing traffic through AWS’s optimized edge locations, reducing latency. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of hybrid storage solutions and when to choose offline over online transfer methods—a common trap is picking Direct Connect, which still caps at 1 Gbps. Remember the memory tip: “Snowball for the haul, Acceleration for the final installation.”
DEA-C01 Data Ingestion and Transformation Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 is migrating its data warehouse from on-premises to Amazon Redshift. The migration involves copying 50 TB of data from an S3 bucket to Redshift. The network bandwidth is limited to 1 Gbps. Which TWO approaches should the team use to complete the transfer within 7 days?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
A (Snowball Edge) allows physical transfer of the data, bypassing network limitations. D (S3 Transfer Acceleration) optimizes network transfer but may not be sufficient alone. B (Direct Connect) helps but still limited by 1 Gbps. C (Kinesis Firehose) is for streaming. E (Lambda) is not for bulk transfer.
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 Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why this is correct
S3 Transfer Acceleration can speed up uploads over the network.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Direct Connect with 10 Gbps
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect would help but the problem states 1 Gbps limitation.
✓
Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the data to S3
Why this is correct
Snowball Edge can physically transfer large datasets faster than network.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Lambda to copy data in parallel
Why it's wrong here
Lambda has time and memory limits, not suitable for 50 TB.
✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Why it's wrong here
Firehose is for streaming, not bulk data transfer.
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.
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.
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 Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration — A (Snowball Edge) allows physical transfer of the data, bypassing network limitations. D (S3 Transfer Acceleration) optimizes network transfer but may not be sufficient alone. B (Direct Connect) helps but still limited by 1 Gbps. C (Kinesis Firehose) is for streaming. E (Lambda) is not for bulk transfer.
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.
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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.
Question Discussion
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