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MLA-C01 Practice Question: A team is using AWS Step Functions to orchestrate…
A team is using AWS Step Functions to orchestrate a machine learning workflow that includes data preprocessing, training, and model evaluation. The team wants to run the workflow whenever new data arrives in an S3 bucket. Which approach should they use to trigger the Step Functions workflow?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume S3 can directly invoke Step Functions (Option A) because they know S3 can trigger Lambda, but they overlook that Step Functions is not a supported direct destination for S3 event notifications.
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
✓
Configure the S3 bucket to send events to Amazon EventBridge, and create an EventBridge rule that targets the Step Functions state machine.
Amazon S3 can send event notifications directly to Amazon EventBridge, and EventBridge rules can target AWS Step Functions state machines as a target. This provides a fully managed, serverless integration that allows the Step Functions workflow to be triggered automatically whenever new data arrives in the S3 bucket, without needing intermediate polling or custom code.
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 S3 bucket to send an event notification directly to the Step Functions state machine.
Why it's wrong here
S3 cannot directly invoke Step Functions; it can send to SNS, SQS, or Lambda.
- ✗
Use S3 event notifications to send a message to an Amazon SQS queue, and have a Lambda function poll the queue to start the execution.
Why it's wrong here
Using S3 event notifications to an SQS queue with a Lambda poller introduces unnecessary latency and operational overhead, as Step Functions can be invoked directly from S3 event notifications via Lambda without an intermediary queue. This approach is tempting because SQS is commonly used to decouple producers from consumers and buffer high-throughput events, making it a valid choice when the workflow requires throttling, retry management, or batch processing before execution.
- ✗
Use a CloudWatch Logs metric filter to trigger the Step Functions execution.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs metric filters do not trigger Step Functions directly.
- ✓
Configure the S3 bucket to send events to Amazon EventBridge, and create an EventBridge rule that targets the Step Functions state machine.
Why this is correct
EventBridge can directly invoke Step Functions based on S3 events, providing a simple serverless trigger.
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 |
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