- A
AWS Glue
Glue provides serverless Spark for ETL on S3 data.
- B
Amazon Athena
Why wrong: Athena is for SQL queries, not Spark.
- C
Amazon EMR
Why wrong: EMR requires cluster management and planning.
- D
Amazon SageMaker
Why wrong: SageMaker is for machine learning model training and deployment.
Question 1,594 of 1,755
MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data engineering. 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 machine learning team needs to process a large dataset stored in Amazon S3 using Apache Spark. They want to minimize cost and avoid managing infrastructure. Which AWS service should they use?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
✓
AWS Glue
AWS Glue is a fully managed, serverless Spark environment that eliminates infrastructure management. It directly meets the requirement to process large datasets in S3 with Apache Spark while minimizing cost, as you only pay for resources consumed during job execution. Glue also integrates natively with S3 and the broader AWS ecosystem, making it the optimal choice for this use case.
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.
- ✓
AWS Glue
Why this is correct
Glue provides serverless Spark for ETL on S3 data.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon Athena
Why it's wrong here
Athena is for SQL queries, not Spark.
- ✗
Amazon EMR
Why it's wrong here
EMR requires cluster management and planning.
- ✗
Amazon SageMaker
Why it's wrong here
SageMaker is for machine learning model training and deployment.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon EMR's managed cluster feature with 'serverless,' but EMR still requires provisioning and managing EC2 instances, whereas AWS Glue is truly serverless and infrastructure-free.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Glue uses a serverless Spark runtime that auto-scales based on the workload, allocating resources in DPU (Data Processing Units) increments. Under the hood, Glue jobs run on a managed Spark cluster that spins up only during execution, with no idle costs. In a real-world scenario, a team processing terabytes of log data daily in S3 could use Glue's built-in job bookmarks for incremental processing, avoiding reprocessing of already-read data and further reducing costs.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this MLS-C01 question test?
Data Engineering — This question tests Data Engineering — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Glue — AWS Glue is a fully managed, serverless Spark environment that eliminates infrastructure management. It directly meets the requirement to process large datasets in S3 with Apache Spark while minimizing cost, as you only pay for resources consumed during job execution. Glue also integrates natively with S3 and the broader AWS ecosystem, making it the optimal choice for this use case.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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