SAA-C03 Design Resilient Architectures Practice Question
A media company stores original video assets in an Amazon S3 bucket in the us-east-1 Region. Editors in Europe report slow downloads, and the legal team requires that a copy of every asset exist in eu-west-1 within 15 minutes of upload, with the ability to fail over reads to the European copy during a Regional impairment. Which S3 feature should the architects enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse features that change how clients reach S3 with features that actually copy object data to another Region.
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 Cross-Region Replication with a replication rule that targets the eu-west-1 bucket and uses S3 Replication Time Control.
The requirement is a durable, timely copy of each object in a second Region, which is exactly what Cross-Region Replication provides. Adding S3 Replication Time Control turns the timing expectation into a defined service level, aligning the solution with the 15-minute RPO the legal team specified. Other S3 features change routing or transform data but do not create the required replica.
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 Multi-Region Access Points configured against the existing us-east-1 bucket, with no replication rule created.
Why it's wrong here
Multi-Region Access Points route requests to buckets in multiple Regions, but they do not copy data on their own. Without replication rules, no object exists in eu-west-1, so there is nothing to fail over to and no European copy. This option changes routing without satisfying the data residency requirement.
- ✗
S3 Object Lambda access points in eu-west-1 that transform objects on retrieval from the us-east-1 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Object Lambda runs transformation code when an object is requested and does not duplicate storage across Regions. The object bytes still live in us-east-1, so a Regional impairment there would make the assets unavailable and the residency rule would be violated. This feature is for on-the-fly data transformation, not replication.
- ✓
S3 Cross-Region Replication with a replication rule that targets the eu-west-1 bucket and uses S3 Replication Time Control.
Why this is correct
Cross-Region Replication copies new objects to the destination bucket automatically, and S3 Replication Time Control provides a service level agreement that most objects replicate within 15 minutes. This meets both the latency goal for European readers and the requirement for a failover copy in eu-west-1. It is the native, managed mechanism for the stated RPO.
- ✗
S3 Same-Region Replication to a second bucket in us-east-1, with an S3 Transfer Acceleration endpoint used by the European editors.
Why it's wrong here
Same-Region Replication keeps both copies in us-east-1, so it does not satisfy the requirement for a European copy to fail over to. Transfer Acceleration improves upload and download speed over long distances but does not create a durable replica in another Region. The legal mandate for a eu-west-1 copy would remain unmet.
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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JA
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
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