DVA-C02 Deployment Practice Question
A developer needs to deploy a containerized application on AWS. The application requires persistent storage that can be shared across multiple containers running on different EC2 instances. Which AWS service should the developer use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse EBS with EFS, assuming EBS can be shared across instances, but EBS volumes are single-instance attachments by default, while EFS is purpose-built for concurrent multi-instance access.
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 Elastic File System (EFS)
Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and elastic NFS file system that can be mounted concurrently on multiple EC2 instances across different Availability Zones. This makes it the ideal choice for shared persistent storage when containers running on separate EC2 instances need to access the same data simultaneously.
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
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 is an object storage service designed for highly scalable, durable, and available storage of unstructured data objects. It does not provide a traditional POSIX-compliant file system interface, which containerized applications often expect for file operations such as random read/write access, directory traversal, or file locking. Therefore, S3 cannot be directly mounted as a shared file system for application data within containers.
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Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS)
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides persistent block storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances. While EBS volumes offer high performance and can be formatted with standard file systems, a single EBS volume can typically only be attached to one EC2 instance at a time. This fundamental limitation prevents it from serving as a shared file system accessible concurrently by multiple container instances that need to read and write to the same data.
- ✗
Amazon RDS
Why it's wrong here
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is a managed service that simplifies the setup, operation, and scaling of relational databases in the cloud. It is designed for storing and managing structured data within a database engine like MySQL or PostgreSQL, not for general-purpose file storage that a containerized application might require for configuration files, logs, or user-uploaded content. Therefore, RDS cannot function as a mounted file system for application data.
- ✓
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)
Why this is correct
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a fully managed, scalable, and highly available network file system designed for use with AWS cloud services and on-premises resources. EFS provides a POSIX-compliant file system interface, allowing multiple EC2 instances, containers, or serverless functions to concurrently access and share the same data. This makes it an ideal solution for containerized applications that require persistent, shared storage across a fleet of instances.
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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JA
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.