SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
A log archive serves infrequently accessed user documents that must be available immediately when requested. Which S3 storage class is likely the best cost fit? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that 'infrequently accessed' automatically means Glacier or Deep Archive, but the key differentiator is the 'immediate availability' requirement, which eliminates any cold storage class with retrieval delays.
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 Standard-IA or S3 One Zone-IA depending on resilience requirements
S3 Standard-IA or S3 One Zone-IA is the best cost fit because the workload involves infrequently accessed documents that require immediate retrieval. These storage classes offer lower storage costs than S3 Standard while maintaining low-latency access (milliseconds), and they avoid custom operational scripts since retrieval is automatic via standard S3 GET requests. The choice between Standard-IA and One Zone-IA depends on whether the data requires multi-AZ resilience or can tolerate a single-AZ failure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Instance store volumes
Why it's wrong here
Instance store is ephemeral block storage, not durable document storage.
- ✓
S3 Standard-IA or S3 One Zone-IA depending on resilience requirements
Why this is correct
Infrequent Access classes reduce storage cost while keeping millisecond retrieval.
- ✗
S3 Standard for all objects
Why it's wrong here
Standard costs more for infrequently accessed data.
- ✗
S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Why it's wrong here
Deep Archive has long retrieval times and is not immediate access.
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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JA
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.