This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data ingestion and transformation. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A data engineer has configured an S3 event notification to send an event to an SQS queue when objects are created in the 'incoming/' prefix. The engineer wants to trigger an AWS Lambda function to process the object. However, the Lambda function is not being invoked. 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 Lambda function lacks permission to read from the S3 bucket.
Why wrong: Permission to S3 is not needed; Lambda needs SQS permission.
Lambda is not configured as an event source for the SQS queue.
Lambda must poll the SQS queue to be triggered.
The SQS queue does not exist or is in a different account.
Why wrong: The queue ARN is valid and exists.
The S3 event notification filter prefix is incorrect.
Why wrong: The prefix 'incoming/' is valid.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Lambda is not configured as an event source for the SQS queue.
The Lambda function is not being invoked because the SQS queue is not configured as an event source for Lambda. Even though S3 sends events to SQS, Lambda will only poll and process messages from the queue if an event source mapping (e.g., via CreateEventSourceMapping) is established. Without this mapping, the messages sit in the queue and Lambda remains idle.
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 Lambda function lacks permission to read from the S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Permission to S3 is not needed; Lambda needs SQS permission.
Lambda is not configured as an event source for the SQS queue.
Why this is correct
Lambda must poll the SQS queue to be triggered.
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 SQS queue does not exist or is in a different account.
Why it's wrong here
The queue ARN is valid and exists.
The S3 event notification filter prefix is incorrect.
Why it's wrong here
The prefix 'incoming/' is valid.
Common exam traps
The DEA-C01 exam often tests the distinction between sending events to a queue (S3 → SQS) and actually consuming them (SQS → Lambda), so candidates mistakenly assume that simply having S3 send to SQS will automatically trigger Lambda without an explicit event source mapping.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, Lambda uses an internal poller that calls the SQS ReceiveMessage API to pull messages from the queue. The event source mapping defines the batch size, polling interval, and concurrency settings. A common subtlety is that the SQS queue must have a redrive policy (DLQ) configured to avoid message loss if Lambda processing fails, and the Lambda execution role must include sqs:ReceiveMessage, sqs:DeleteMessage, and sqs:GetQueueAttributes permissions.
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 |
What to study next
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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: Lambda is not configured as an event source for the SQS queue. — The Lambda function is not being invoked because the SQS queue is not configured as an event source for Lambda. Even though S3 sends events to SQS, Lambda will only poll and process messages from the queue if an event source mapping (e.g., via CreateEventSourceMapping) is established. Without this mapping, the messages sit in the queue and Lambda remains idle.
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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