- A
Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Why wrong: Good for unknown patterns, but monitoring cost may add up.
- B
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Lowest cost for archival storage with infrequent access.
- C
Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access
Why wrong: Not highly available; data lost if AZ fails.
- D
Amazon S3 Standard
Why wrong: Most expensive for long-term storage.
Question 373 of 1,616
Cost-Effective Log Storage with Glacier Deep Archive
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. 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.
A developer needs to store application logs in a highly available and durable storage service. The logs must be retained for 7 years for compliance purposes. The logs are accessed infrequently after the first 30 days. Which storage solution is MOST cost-effective?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"first"Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
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 S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for data that is accessed infrequently and must be retained for long periods (7 years). It offers the lowest storage cost among S3 classes, making it ideal for compliance archives where retrieval times of 12 hours are acceptable. The requirement that logs are accessed infrequently after 30 days aligns perfectly with Glacier Deep Archive's design for long-term, rarely accessed data.
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.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Why it's wrong here
Good for unknown patterns, but monitoring cost may add up.
- ✓
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Why this is correct
Lowest cost for archival storage with infrequent access.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access
Why it's wrong here
Not highly available; data lost if AZ fails.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Standard
Why it's wrong here
Most expensive for long-term storage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering because it 'automates cost savings,' but they overlook the per-object monitoring fee and the fact that for data that is never accessed after 30 days, the lowest-cost tier (Glacier Deep Archive) is cheaper without the overhead of Intelligent-Tiering's automation costs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive uses a proprietary erasure coding and tape-like storage infrastructure to achieve 99.999999999% durability and the lowest storage cost, but retrieval times range from 12 to 48 hours via the 'Expedited' or 'Standard' retrieval tiers. Under the hood, data is stored in a separate, cold storage subsystem that is not directly accessible via standard S3 GET requests; instead, you must initiate a restore job that copies the object back to a temporary S3 storage class. A real-world scenario is financial institutions storing transaction logs for regulatory compliance (e.g., SEC Rule 17a-4), where retrieval latency is acceptable but cost savings over 7 years are critical.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DVA-C02 question test?
Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive — Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective storage class for data that is accessed infrequently and must be retained for long periods (7 years). It offers the lowest storage cost among S3 classes, making it ideal for compliance archives where retrieval times of 12 hours are acceptable. The requirement that logs are accessed infrequently after 30 days aligns perfectly with Glacier Deep Archive's design for long-term, rarely accessed data.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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