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 exist in the eu-west-1 Region within 15 minutes of upload, and that the objects in eu-west-1 be usable directly by an application there. No transformations are required. Which S3 feature should the solutions architect enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse request-routing features such as Multi-Region Access Points with data-replication features, and forgetting that S3 Versioning must be enabled on both buckets before a replication rule can be created.
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 (CRR) with S3 Versioning enabled on both the source and destination buckets
Cross-Region Replication is the purpose-built S3 capability for maintaining an automatically updated, readable object copy in a different Region, and its asynchronous replication latency generally falls well inside a 15-minute window. Versioning on both buckets is a prerequisite, so the architect must enable it as part of the design. The other choices either keep data in one Region, move data only between storage classes, or route requests without creating a second copy.
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 with an active-passive routing configuration
Why it's wrong here
Multi-Region Access Points route client requests to buckets across Regions, but they do not themselves create or maintain a copy of the data in each Region. Without replication underneath, the eu-west-1 bucket would not contain the uploaded masters. This option addresses request routing and failover, not the compliance requirement for a durable readable copy in a second Region.
- ✗
S3 Same-Region Replication (SRR) between the us-east-1 bucket and a second bucket in us-east-1
Why it's wrong here
SRR keeps both the source and destination buckets inside a single Region, so no object ever lands in eu-west-1. Even though replication is fast and versioning is required, it cannot place data in another geography. This fails the compliance requirement that a readable copy exist in eu-west-1, and the remote application would have no local objects to consume.
- ✗
S3 Lifecycle policies that transition objects to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval in eu-west-1 after 15 minutes
Why it's wrong here
S3 Lifecycle transitions move objects between storage classes within a bucket, and they do not copy data to a different Region on their own. A lifecycle rule cannot target a bucket in eu-west-1, so no cross-Region copy is produced. This option also adds retrieval considerations that the scenario does not need, since the application requires ordinary reads.
- ✓
S3 Cross-Region Replication (CRR) with S3 Versioning enabled on both the source and destination buckets
Why this is correct
CRR asynchronously replicates new and updated objects to a destination bucket in another Region, and most objects replicate within minutes, satisfying the 15-minute requirement. Versioning is mandatory on both source and destination buckets for replication rules to work. Because the replicated objects are full readable copies, the application in eu-west-1 can read them directly without any restore step.
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.