The answer is to create a lifecycle policy that transitions objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, combined with an earlier transition to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days. This approach directly addresses reducing S3 storage costs for rarely accessed data by automatically moving historical data to progressively cheaper storage tiers as access patterns decline, with Glacier Deep Archive offering the lowest cost for long-term archival. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of S3 Lifecycle policies as a core cost-optimization tool, often presenting traps like enabling versioning (which increases costs) or deleting data prematurely. A common memory tip is to think of lifecycle rules as a “staircase” down cost tiers: Standard-IA after 30 days, then Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, ensuring you never lose data while maximizing savings.
DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
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 options are valid ways to reduce storage costs for an Amazon S3 data lake that stores historical data rarely accessed after 30 days? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days.
S3 Lifecycle policies can transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days (lower cost for infrequent access) and later to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term archival. Options B and D are correct. Option A: deleting after 30 days would lose data. Option C: enabling versioning increases storage costs. Option E: S3 Transfer Acceleration is for faster uploads, not cost reduction.
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 Transfer Acceleration for all uploads.
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration incurs additional costs.
✓
Create a lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days.
Why this is correct
Standard-IA reduces storage cost for infrequent access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a lifecycle policy to delete objects after 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting data may not be desired for historical data.
✓
Create a lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days.
Why this is correct
Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage for archival.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable S3 Versioning to preserve all object versions.
Why it's wrong here
Versioning increases storage costs.
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 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 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 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: Create a lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days. — S3 Lifecycle policies can transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days (lower cost for infrequent access) and later to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term archival. Options B and D are correct. Option A: deleting after 30 days would lose data. Option C: enabling versioning increases storage costs. Option E: S3 Transfer Acceleration is for faster uploads, not cost reduction.
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.
About these practice questions
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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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