DOP-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  S3 Intelligent-Tiering

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers, but this convenience incurs per-object monitoring and automation charges (e.g., $0.0025 per 1,000 objects) and still requires the optional Deep Archive tier to reach costs comparable to S3 Glacier Deep Archive. For a dataset with a predictable pattern of almost no access over 7 years, you pay a premium for the monitoring and tier-switching logic without benefit. Additionally, objects smaller than 128KB are never moved to lower-cost tiers, and the service is designed for unknown or changing access patterns, not static archival data.

• ✗

  S3 Standard

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 Standard offers millisecond access latency and high durability, which is unnecessary for audit logs that can remain unread for years, yet it is the most expensive storage class at roughly $0.023 per GB-month. Over 7 years, the cumulative storage cost for a large log dataset would be prohibitive compared to S3 Glacier Deep Archive, especially since the logs will be accessed only if a compliance investigation occurs. There is also no minimum storage duration, but that advantage does not offset the significant price premium for a workload defined by its infrequent access.

• ✓

  S3 Glacier Deep Archive

  Why this is correct

  S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class in S3, priced at approximately $0.00099 per GB-month, specifically designed for long-term retention of data expected to be accessed at most once per year. With a standard retrieval time of 12-48 hours, it is well suited for compliance archives like audit logs that must be retained for 7 years but rarely accessed. The 180-day minimum storage duration is irrelevant when the retention period is 84 months, and the storage cost is a fraction of even S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval.

• ✗

  S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access stores data redundantly within a single Availability Zone, offering no protection against an AZ-level failure, which is unacceptable for audit logs that are legal or compliance records. Although it is cheaper than S3 Standard, it still costs around $0.01 per GB-month, roughly 10 times more than S3 Glacier Deep Archive, and carries a minimum 30-day storage duration plus retrieval fees. The lack of cross-AZ durability means it fails the resilience and availability requirements typically mandated for long-term audit log retention.

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