MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
A data engineer needs to ingest data from an on-premises Apache Kafka cluster into Amazon S3 with minimal latency (under 5 minutes) for real-time analytics. The data volume is approximately 10 MB per second. Which solution is MOST cost-effective and meets the latency requirement?
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 Amazon MSK to mirror the on-premises Kafka cluster, then use Kinesis Firehose to write to S3
Amazon MSK (Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka) can mirror the on-premises Kafka topics to the cloud with near-real-time replication (typically under 1 minute), and then Kinesis Firehose can be configured with a 60-second buffer interval to deliver data to Amazon S3, meeting the under-5-minute latency requirement. This solution is cost-effective because MSK eliminates the need to manage Kafka infrastructure, and Firehose provides serverless, pay-per-use data delivery without provisioning servers. Option B (S3 Transfer Acceleration) is designed for accelerating file uploads over long distances, not for continuous streaming of data from Kafka; it would require additional application changes and is not suitable for real-time streaming. Option C (Kinesis Data Streams with Direct Connect) would require re-architecting the data pipeline to send data directly to Kinesis, adding complexity and cost (Direct Connect bandwidth). Kinesis Data Streams also requires managing shards and does not natively integrate with Kafka replication. Option D (VPN + Lambda) introduces additional latency due to VPN overhead and Lambda cold starts, and Lambda is not optimized for high-throughput streaming of 10 MB/s; it would likely cause throttling or increased costs. Therefore, option A is the most cost-effective and meets the latency requirement.
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 Amazon MSK to mirror the on-premises Kafka cluster, then use Kinesis Firehose to write to S3
Why this is correct
MSK provides managed Kafka with low latency, and Firehose can buffer and write to S3 every 60 seconds.
- ✗
Use Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration for direct uploads from on-premises
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration is for large file uploads, not streaming data.
- ✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Streams with a Direct Connect connection from on-premises
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis Data Streams does not natively ingest data directly from an on-premises Apache Kafka cluster; it would require an additional component, like Kafka Connect or a custom producer, to push data into Kinesis, adding complexity and latency beyond the specified five-minute threshold. This option is tempting because Kinesis Data Streams is a robust, scalable real-time streaming platform for data originating from custom applications or IoT devices within AWS, with Direct Connect providing secure, high-bandwidth on-premises connectivity.
- ✗
Set up a VPN connection and use AWS Lambda to consume from Kafka and write to S3
Why it's wrong here
Lambda has a 15-minute timeout and may not handle sustained streaming efficiently.
Visual reference
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.