This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of modeling. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 data scientist is using SageMaker to train a model. The training data is stored in an S3 bucket in a different AWS account. What is required to allow SageMaker to access the data?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure the SageMaker execution role with a policy that grants cross-account access to the S3 bucket.
Option A is correct because SageMaker uses an IAM execution role to access resources. To allow cross-account access to an S3 bucket, the SageMaker execution role must have an IAM policy that grants s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket permissions for the bucket, and the S3 bucket policy must also grant cross-account access to that role. This is the standard AWS mechanism for cross-account resource access.
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.
✓
Configure the SageMaker execution role with a policy that grants cross-account access to the S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
The IAM role used by SageMaker must have permissions to access the S3 bucket in the other account.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Set up VPC peering between the two accounts.
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering is not needed for S3 access; IAM policies suffice.
✗
Create a SageMaker notebook instance in the same account as the S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The notebook instance location does not resolve cross-account access.
✗
Launch the training job from a SageMaker notebook in the account containing the S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The training job must be in the same account as the SageMaker resources, but the S3 bucket can be accessed via cross-account IAM roles.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse network-level solutions (VPC peering) with IAM-based access control, or assume that running the job from the same account as the data automatically grants access, ignoring that the SageMaker execution role is the key security boundary.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, SageMaker assumes the execution role via AWS Security Token Service (STS) to obtain temporary credentials for S3 access. Cross-account access requires both the resource-based policy (S3 bucket policy) to allow the external principal and the identity-based policy (SageMaker execution role) to allow the action. A common real-world scenario is when data is centralized in a data lake account and SageMaker training jobs run in separate development accounts, requiring careful IAM policy configuration to avoid access denied errors.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Modeling — This question tests Modeling — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure the SageMaker execution role with a policy that grants cross-account access to the S3 bucket. — Option A is correct because SageMaker uses an IAM execution role to access resources. To allow cross-account access to an S3 bucket, the SageMaker execution role must have an IAM policy that grants s3:GetObject and s3:ListBucket permissions for the bucket, and the S3 bucket policy must also grant cross-account access to that role. This is the standard AWS mechanism for cross-account resource access.
What should I do if I get this MLS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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