Streaming Data Ingestion into Amazon S3
Which TWO AWS services can be used to ingest streaming data into Amazon S3? (Choose two.)
Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose and Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka). Kinesis Data Firehose is purpose-built for streaming data ingestion into Amazon S3, as it can directly load real-time data streams into S3 without requiring custom code, while Amazon MSK can integrate with Kafka Connect to reliably sink streaming data into S3 using a connector. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of which services handle continuous, low-latency data ingestion versus batch or offline transfer methods. A common trap is confusing S3 Transfer Acceleration, which only speeds up existing uploads, or Snowball, which is for offline bulk data migration, with true streaming ingestion. Remember the mnemonic “Firehose flows, MSK connects” to recall that Kinesis Data Firehose delivers directly and MSK uses connectors for S3 sinks.
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration (a speed optimization for existing uploads) with a streaming ingestion service, or they mistakenly think EBS or Snowball can handle real-time streaming data when they are designed for persistent block storage and offline bulk transfer, respectively.
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
✓
Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose is the easiest way to reliably load streaming data into Amazon S3. It can capture, transform, and deliver streaming data to S3 destinations in near real-time with no code required. Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka) can also ingest streaming data into S3 by using Kafka Connect with an S3 sink connector, which writes data from Kafka topics directly to S3.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads but does not ingest streaming data.
- ✓
Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (Amazon MSK)
Why this is correct
MSK can stream data to S3 via Kafka Connect S3 sink.
- ✓
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Why this is correct
Firehose can deliver streaming data to S3.
- ✗
Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS)
Why it's wrong here
EBS provides block storage for EC2, not data ingestion.
- ✗
AWS Snowball
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is for physical data transfer, not streaming.
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which TWO services can be used to ingest streaming data into Amazon S3? (Choose two.)
medium- A.Amazon Athena
- B.AWS Glue
- ✓ C.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
- D.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- ✓ E.Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Why C: Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is a real-time streaming service that can ingest and store streaming data, which can then be consumed and written to Amazon S3 using a Kinesis Data Analytics or a custom consumer application. Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose is a fully managed service that can directly load streaming data into Amazon S3, Amazon Redshift, or Amazon Elasticsearch Service, with optional data transformation and compression.
Variation 2. Which TWO AWS services can be used to ingest streaming data into Amazon S3 with minimal code? (Choose two.)
medium- A.AWS Lambda
- ✓ B.Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
- ✓ C.Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (MSK) with S3 sink connector
- D.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
- E.AWS DataSync
Why B: Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose (Option B) is a fully managed service that can ingest streaming data and deliver it to Amazon S3 with minimal configuration and no code required. Amazon MSK with the S3 sink connector (Option C) allows streaming data from Apache Kafka topics to be automatically written to S3 with minimal code, as the connector handles the integration. Option A (AWS Lambda) requires custom code to process and write data to S3. Option D (AWS DMS) is designed for database migration, not streaming ingestion. Option E (AWS DataSync) is for batch file transfers, not real-time streaming.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.