This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. 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.
Which TWO actions can help optimize Amazon S3 storage costs for a data lake? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering for unpredictable access patterns
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between two access tiers (frequent and infrequent) when access patterns change, with no retrieval fees and a small monthly monitoring fee. This is ideal for a data lake where access patterns are unpredictable, as it optimizes costs without requiring manual lifecycle rule adjustments.
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.
✗
Enable S3 Replication to another region
Why it's wrong here
Replication increases costs due to storage and data transfer.
✓
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering for unpredictable access patterns
Why this is correct
Intelligent-Tiering automatically optimizes costs based on access patterns.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use S3 Select to retrieve only needed data
Why it's wrong here
S3 Select reduces data transfer costs, not storage costs.
✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads, does not reduce storage costs.
✓
Implement S3 Lifecycle policies to transition objects to Glacier
Why this is correct
Lifecycle policies reduce storage costs by moving data to cheaper tiers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse cost optimization for storage (reducing stored data cost) with cost optimization for data transfer or retrieval, leading them to select options like S3 Select or Transfer Acceleration that address different cost dimensions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 Intelligent-Tiering uses a 30-day monitoring period to determine access patterns and automatically moves objects to the Infrequent Access tier after 30 consecutive days of no access, and back to Frequent Access if accessed again. For a data lake with mixed workloads (e.g., hot data for recent queries and cold historical data), this eliminates the need to manually define lifecycle rules, though objects smaller than 128 KB are not eligible for tiering. Lifecycle policies to Glacier (Option E) are effective for data with known, long-term infrequent access, such as compliance archives, where retrieval times of minutes to hours are acceptable.
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.
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 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 S3 Intelligent-Tiering for unpredictable access patterns — S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between two access tiers (frequent and infrequent) when access patterns change, with no retrieval fees and a small monthly monitoring fee. This is ideal for a data lake where access patterns are unpredictable, as it optimizes costs without requiring manual lifecycle rule adjustments.
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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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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