DBS-C01 Workload-Specific Database Design Practice Question
A company needs to run complex analytical queries on structured data in Amazon S3 without loading data into a database. The queries must execute quickly and support standard SQL. Which service should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Amazon Redshift Spectrum with Athena, but Spectrum requires an existing Redshift cluster (provisioned infrastructure), whereas Athena is truly serverless and directly queries S3 without any database setup.
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 Athena
Amazon Athena is a serverless interactive query service that allows you to run standard SQL directly on data stored in Amazon S3 without loading or transforming it. It uses Presto under the hood and supports complex analytical queries on structured data with fast execution, making it the ideal choice for this use case.
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 QuickSight
Why it's wrong here
Visualization tool, not for querying.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL jobs
Why it's wrong here
For ETL, not ad-hoc queries.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift Spectrum
Why it's wrong here
Requires a Redshift cluster.
- ✓
Amazon Athena
Why this is correct
Serverless, queries S3 directly with SQL.
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 |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DBS-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 DBS-C01 exam.