MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
A company needs to move 10 TB of data from an on-premises NAS to Amazon S3 over a 100 Mbps internet connection. The transfer must complete within 3 days. Which solution is the most appropriate?
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
✓
Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the data
AWS Snowball Edge is a physical device that can transfer large data volumes much faster than over the internet. Option A is wrong: AWS DataSync over the internet at 100 Mbps would take approximately 10 days to transfer 10 TB, exceeding the 3-day requirement. Option B is wrong: S3 Transfer Acceleration optimizes the network path but still relies on internet bandwidth; even with a 200% speed improvement, it would take over 4.6 days. Option C is wrong: using AWS CLI to copy directly over the internet has the same bandwidth limitation and would also take about 10 days.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use AWS DataSync to transfer over the internet
Why it's wrong here
DataSync is faster than CLI but still limited by bandwidth.
- ✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the bucket
Why it's wrong here
Acceleration improves speed but not enough to meet 3-day window.
- ✗
Use AWS CLI to copy data directly over the internet
Why it's wrong here
Insufficient bandwidth; would take ~10 days.
- ✓
Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the data
Why this is correct
Snowball Edge provides physical transport, faster than internet for large data.
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 |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MLS-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 MLS-C01 exam.