SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
A company stores nightly database backup files in an Amazon S3 bucket. Each backup is about 50 GB, and the files are written once and never modified. Regulatory policy requires that every backup be retained for exactly seven years, after which it may be deleted. Retrieval of a backup for an audit is extremely rare and the company can tolerate a retrieval time of up to 12 hours. Which S3 storage class is the MOST cost-effective choice for these backups?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is choosing an automatic tiering class out of habit, when a predictable never-accessed retention pattern is cheaper with a purpose-built archive class than with per-object monitoring fees.
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
✓
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
The backups are immutable, retained for a fixed multi-year period, and almost never retrieved, with a retrieval tolerance of up to 12 hours. S3 Glacier Deep Archive is purpose-built for exactly this pattern and offers the lowest storage cost among S3 classes, so it satisfies both the compliance retention requirement and the cost-optimization goal without needing frequent access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Why this is correct
S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost S3 storage class and is intended for data retained for long periods that is rarely, if ever, accessed. Its standard retrieval time is within 12 hours, which matches the stated tolerance, and it is well suited to seven-year compliance retention of immutable backup files, making it the most cost-effective fit.
- ✗
S3 One Zone-IA
Why it's wrong here
S3 One Zone-IA stores data in a single Availability Zone and is cheaper than Standard-IA, but it is still far more expensive per gigabyte than the archive tiers for data that is essentially never read. It also sacrifices durability against an Availability Zone loss, which is a poor trade for long-term compliance backups that must survive for seven years.
- ✗
S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Why it's wrong here
S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers based on changing access patterns, but it charges a small monthly monitoring and automation fee per object. For backups that are predictably never accessed, that monitoring cost adds up over seven years without benefit, and the deepest archive tier still requires an explicit archive configuration, so it is not the most cost-effective choice here.
- ✗
S3 Standard
Why it's wrong here
S3 Standard is designed for frequently accessed data and carries the highest per-gigabyte storage price of the standard classes. Because these backups are written once and almost never read, paying the Standard rate for seven years of retention wastes money. It also provides no lifecycle-based cost advantage for the described access pattern, so it fails the cost-effectiveness requirement.
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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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.