SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose Option A, thinking that deleting old backups saves money, but they overlook the explicit retention requirement, or they may choose Option D, assuming immediate archiving is always cheapest, without considering the need for quick access during the first 30 days.
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 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.
It uses an S3 lifecycle policy to store backups in S3 Standard for the first 30 days when restores are likely, then transitions them to S3 Glacier Deep Archive for the remaining retention period. S3 Glacier Deep Archive offers the lowest storage cost for long-term, rarely accessed data, making this the most cost-effective strategy while meeting the 2-year retention 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.
- ✗
Delete backups after 30 days to avoid storage costs, since restores are rare.
Why it's wrong here
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.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Standard is usually more expensive than tiered archival classes for long-term, infrequent access.
- ✓
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.
Why this is correct
A lifecycle transition after the initial restore window reduces cost while still meeting the 2-year retention requirement.
- ✗
Move backups to S3 Glacier Deep Archive immediately after creation, even for the first 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
Immediate Deep Archive storage may make restorations during the first 30 days too slow.
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 SAA-C03 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 SAA-C03 exam.