A company keeps daily database backups in an S3 bucket. They may restore from backups during the first 30 days if there is an issue. After 30 days, backups are rarely restored, but must be retained for 2 years. Which lifecycle strategy most cost-effectively meets these requirements?

Delete backups after 30 days to avoid storage costs, since restores are rare.

Deleting after 30 days violates the stated requirement to retain backups for 2 years.

Keep all backups in S3 Standard for the entire 2-year retention period.

S3 Standard is usually more expensive than tiered archival classes for long-term, infrequent access.

Move backups to S3 Glacier Deep Archive immediately after creation, even for the first 30 days.

Immediate Deep Archive storage may make restorations during the first 30 days too slow.

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Use an S3 lifecycle policy to keep backups in S3 Standard for 30 days, then transition them to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for the remainder of the 2-year retention period. — The best approach is to keep backups in a more readily restorable storage tier for the first 30 days, then transition them to S3 Glacier Deep Archive using an S3 lifecycle policy for the remainder of the 2-year retention period. This directly matches the business rule: frequent restores early on, rare access later, with long-term retention. Deleting violates retention. Keeping everything in Standard ignores cost optimization. Transitioning to Deep Archive immediately could make early restores during the first 30 days slower than needed. Why others are wrong: Deleting after 30 days fails the stated 2-year retention requirement. Keeping all backups in S3 Standard costs more than necessary because it is optimized for frequent access. Moving everything to Deep Archive immediately is likely too slow for the first 30 days when restores may be needed. Lifecycle-based tiering after the initial restore window is the cost-effective and requirement-compliant solution.

What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.