A media company keeps application logs in Amazon S3 for 400 days. The logs are read heavily for the first 30 days, occasionally for the next 90 days, and almost never after that. The team wants to lower storage cost without affecting retention requirements. Which two lifecycle transitions should it configure? Select two.

Transition the objects to S3 One Zone-IA after 30 days.

One Zone-IA is cheaper than Standard-IA, but it stores data in a single Availability Zone. For log retention data, that is usually a weaker durability choice than needed unless the business explicitly accepts the reduced resilience.

Keep the objects in S3 Standard for the full 400 days.

Keeping all logs in S3 Standard is simple, but it is not cost-optimized for older data that is rarely accessed. The scenario specifically gives a clear decline in access frequency, which is ideal for lifecycle transitions.

Use only S3 Intelligent-Tiering and never add archival transitions.

Intelligent-Tiering can help with unknown or changing access patterns, but this workload has a predictable hot-to-cold progression. Adding explicit lifecycle transitions to colder classes is typically cheaper for long retention with rare later access.

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Transition the objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days. — The workload has a clear access pattern: hot for 30 days, moderately warm for the next 90 days, then nearly cold for the remainder. Standard-IA fits the medium-access period because it lowers cost while preserving fast retrieval. After that, Glacier Deep Archive is the cheapest option for very rare access and long retention. Together, these transitions align storage cost with actual usage over the 400-day retention window. One Zone-IA reduces cost but weakens durability, which is usually not ideal for retained logs. Keeping everything in S3 Standard wastes money once access drops. Intelligent-Tiering is useful when access is uncertain, but the scenario is explicit enough that direct lifecycle transitions are more cost-effective. The correct answer uses classes that match the data’s changing value over time.

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.