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Question 395 of 1,040

Design Resilient Architectures →mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The correct answer is to enable S3 Versioning on the source bucket and configure cross-region replication (CRR) to a bucket in a second AWS Region. S3 Versioning protects against accidental overwrites or deletions by preserving every version of an object, including delete markers, so no data is permanently lost. Cross-region replication then automatically copies new and updated objects to a bucket in a different Region, providing a geographically separate copy for disaster recovery. On the SAA-C03 exam, this pairing tests your understanding that versioning handles data corruption or deletion within a single bucket, while CRR addresses regional outages—a common trap is thinking replication alone prevents deletion, but without versioning, a replicated delete marker would still remove the object in the destination. Remember the mnemonic: “Versioning for the oops, replication for the outage.”

SAA-C03 Design Resilient Architectures Practice Question

This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design resilient architectures. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A media company stores daily financial exports in Amazon S3. The files must be protected against accidental overwrite or deletion, and the business also wants a second copy in another Region for recovery after a regional outage. Which two actions should the architect take? Select two.

Question 1mediummulti select

Full question →

A
Enable bucket versioning on the S3 bucket.
Versioning preserves prior object versions so accidental deletes and overwrites can be recovered later.
B
Turn on S3 Transfer Acceleration for the bucket.
Why wrong: Transfer Acceleration can speed uploads over long distances, but it does not protect object history or durability.
C
Use only lifecycle policies to move objects to Glacier.
Why wrong: Lifecycle policies control storage class transitions and cost, but they do not create a regional recovery copy.
D
Configure replication to a bucket in a second AWS Region.
Cross-Region replication creates a second copy outside the original Region, improving recovery options after a regional outage.
E
Enable S3 Block Public Access on the bucket.
Why wrong: Block Public Access helps prevent accidental exposure, but it does not protect against deletion or create a second Region copy.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Enable bucket versioning on the S3 bucket.

Option A is correct because enabling S3 Versioning on the bucket protects objects from accidental overwrite or deletion by preserving previous versions of each object. When versioning is enabled, a delete marker is placed instead of permanently removing the object, and overwrites create a new version while retaining the old one. This directly meets the requirement to guard against accidental data loss.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
Enable bucket versioning on the S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
Versioning preserves prior object versions so accidental deletes and overwrites can be recovered later.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Turn on S3 Transfer Acceleration for the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration can speed uploads over long distances, but it does not protect object history or durability.
✗
Use only lifecycle policies to move objects to Glacier.
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle policies control storage class transitions and cost, but they do not create a regional recovery copy.
✓
Configure replication to a bucket in a second AWS Region.
Why this is correct
Cross-Region replication creates a second copy outside the original Region, improving recovery options after a regional outage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable S3 Block Public Access on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Block Public Access helps prevent accidental exposure, but it does not protect against deletion or create a second Region copy.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may confuse S3 Transfer Acceleration or Block Public Access with data protection features, when in fact only versioning and replication directly address the requirements for preventing accidental deletion and providing cross-region recovery.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

S3 Versioning works by assigning a unique version ID to each object upload; when an object is overwritten, the previous version is retained and can be restored via the S3 API or console. Cross-Region Replication (CRR) automatically replicates objects to a destination bucket in a different AWS Region, ensuring a second copy exists for disaster recovery; CRR requires versioning to be enabled on both source and destination buckets. In a real-world scenario, combining versioning with CRR provides both point-in-time recovery from accidental changes and geographic redundancy for regional outages.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Design Resilient Architectures — This question tests Design Resilient Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Enable bucket versioning on the S3 bucket. — Option A is correct because enabling S3 Versioning on the bucket protects objects from accidental overwrite or deletion by preserving previous versions of each object. When versioning is enabled, a delete marker is placed instead of permanently removing the object, and overwrites create a new version while retaining the old one. This directly meets the requirement to guard against accidental data loss.

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

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on SAA-C03

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A media company stores daily financial exports in Amazon S3. The files must be protected against accidental overwrite or deletion, and the business also wants a second copy in another Region for recovery after a regional outage. Which two actions should the architect take? Select two.

medium

✓ A.Enable bucket versioning on the S3 bucket.
B.Turn on S3 Transfer Acceleration for the bucket.
C.Use only lifecycle policies to move objects to Glacier.
✓ D.Configure replication to a bucket in a second AWS Region.
E.Enable S3 Block Public Access on the bucket.

Why A: Option A is correct because enabling S3 Versioning protects objects from accidental overwrite or deletion by preserving previous versions. When a file is overwritten or deleted, the original version is retained, allowing recovery. This directly addresses the requirement to guard against data loss from user or application errors.

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