DVA-C02 SQS visibility timeout Practice Question
A company is using AWS Lambda to process messages from an Amazon SQS queue. The Lambda function sometimes fails to process a message due to a transient error. The company wants to automatically retry failed messages up to 3 times, with a 5-minute delay between retries. What should the company configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may think that the Lambda function's DLQ configuration controls retries, but in reality, for SQS-triggered Lambda, retries are managed by SQS's visibility timeout and redrive policy. The visibility timeout acts as the delay between retries.
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
✓
Configure the SQS queue with a delivery delay of 5 minutes and a redrive policy to move messages to a dead-letter queue after 3 receives.
For an SQS-triggered Lambda, retries are managed by SQS. To retry a failed message up to 3 times with a 5-minute delay between attempts, set the queue's visibility timeout to 5 minutes and configure a redrive policy with maxReceiveCount = 3 so the message is moved to a dead-letter queue after 3 failed receives. Note that a delivery delay only postpones the initial delivery of a message and does not create a delay between retries, so option D's 'delivery delay' is the wrong mechanism. Option A is incorrect because Lambda functions do not have a redrive policy; retries for SQS-triggered Lambda are managed by SQS. Option B is unnecessary overhead. Option C is invalid because reserved concurrency and a 'Retry attempts' setting do not control SQS-triggered Lambda retries.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure a dead-letter queue on the Lambda function with a redrive policy that allows up to 3 retries and a 5-minute delay.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Lambda does not have a redrive policy for its DLQ. The DLQ is used to capture failed messages after retries are exhausted, but retries and delays are handled by SQS.
- ✗
Use AWS Step Functions to poll the SQS queue and implement a retry loop with exponential backoff.
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions would introduce an orchestration layer that polls SQS and manages retries, but the requirement specifies a fixed 5-minute delay between retries, not exponential backoff. Step Functions’ default retry policy uses exponential backoff with a variable delay, which cannot be configured to a constant 5-minute interval. This option is tempting because Step Functions excels at coordinating multi-step workflows with error handling, and would be correct if the scenario required dynamic backoff or conditional branching after retries.
- ✗
Set the Lambda function's reserved concurrency to 1 and enable the 'Retry attempts' option to 3 in the function configuration.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Reserved concurrency and a 'Retry attempts' option in Lambda configuration do not apply to SQS triggers. Retries are controlled by SQS.
- ✓
Configure the SQS queue with a delivery delay of 5 minutes and a redrive policy to move messages to a dead-letter queue after 3 receives.
Why this is correct
Correct. Configuring the SQS queue with a redrive policy (maxReceiveCount = 3) moves messages to a dead-letter queue after 3 receives. The delay between retries is achieved by setting the visibility timeout to 5 minutes. The phrase 'delivery delay' in the option is not exactly correct, but it is the best choice.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.