SAA-C03 Design Resilient Architectures Practice Question
A media company stores original video masters in an Amazon S3 bucket in the us-east-1 Region. Compliance requires that a readable copy of every object exists in eu-west-1 within 15 minutes of upload, and that objects deleted in the source bucket do not automatically disappear from the destination. Which S3 feature should the solutions architect enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any replication option guarantees a 15-minute window, when only S3 Replication Time Control provides that SLA.
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 S3 Replication Time Control and DeleteMarkerReplication disabled
S3 Cross-Region Replication is the AWS feature that asynchronously copies new and updated objects to a bucket in another Region. S3 Replication Time Control adds an SLA that 99.99% of objects replicate within 15 minutes, matching the compliance window. Disabling DeleteMarkerReplication keeps the destination copy intact when the source object is deleted, which is exactly the retention behaviour the compliance team requires.
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 Same-Region Replication into a bucket in us-east-1 with S3 Object Lock in compliance mode
Why it's wrong here
Same-Region Replication keeps the replica inside us-east-1, so it cannot satisfy the requirement for a readable copy in eu-west-1. Object Lock would protect objects from deletion, but only within the same Region and only after the feature is configured at bucket creation. The geographic requirement is unmet, so this design fails the scenario.
- ✗
AWS Backup with a cross-Region backup vault and a daily scheduled backup plan for the bucket
Why it's wrong here
AWS Backup does not natively back up S3 object data through a standard backup plan the way it handles EBS or RDS; S3 protection is delivered through S3 Replication, S3 Versioning, and Object Lock. Even where a vault copy exists, it does not provide near-real-time object copies within 15 minutes and is not the supported mechanism for continuous S3 replication.
- ✓
S3 Cross-Region Replication with S3 Replication Time Control and DeleteMarkerReplication disabled
Why this is correct
S3 Cross-Region Replication copies objects to a bucket in another Region, and S3 Replication Time Control provides an SLA that 99.99% of objects replicate within 15 minutes. Disabling DeleteMarkerReplication prevents delete markers created in the source bucket from being replicated, so deletions in us-east-1 will not remove the copy in eu-west-1. This satisfies both the timing and the retention requirements.
- ✗
S3 Transfer Acceleration on the source bucket with a lifecycle rule transitioning objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to an S3 bucket by routing through edge locations, but it does not create copies in another Region. A lifecycle transition to Glacier Deep Archive moves objects to cheaper storage within the same bucket, which also does not produce a eu-west-1 replica. Neither feature addresses cross-Region durability.
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
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.