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. A key principle to apply: dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.. 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 payments API requires point-in-time recovery and accidental-delete protection for a DynamoDB table. Which two settings should the architect enable? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Deletion protection or tightly controlled delete permissions
Deletion protection and least-privilege controls reduce accidental table removal risk.
Point-in-time recovery
PITR allows restoration to a specific second within the supported recovery window.
Global secondary indexes
Why wrong: GSIs support query access patterns but do not protect against data loss.
DAX
Why wrong: DAX improves read performance but does not provide recovery.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Deletion protection or tightly controlled delete permissions
Deletion protection (option A) prevents accidental deletion of the DynamoDB table itself, which is critical for the accidental-delete protection requirement. Point-in-time recovery (option B) enables restoring the table to any point within the last 35 days, satisfying the point-in-time recovery requirement. Both features are native DynamoDB capabilities that require no custom scripts.
Key principle: DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Deletion protection or tightly controlled delete permissions
Why this is correct
Deletion protection and least-privilege controls reduce accidental table removal risk.
Related concept
DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.
Point-in-time recovery
Why this is correct
PITR allows restoration to a specific second within the supported recovery window.
Related concept
DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.
Global secondary indexes
Why it's wrong here
GSIs support query access patterns but do not protect against data loss.
DAX
Why it's wrong here
DAX improves read performance but does not provide recovery.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse deletion protection (which protects the table resource) with item-level delete prevention, or think that GSIs or DAX provide data durability or recovery features when they do not.
Detailed technical explanation
Point-in-time recovery uses continuous backups with a 35-day retention window, enabling restores to any second within that period. Deletion protection is a table-level setting that, when enabled, prevents the DeleteTable API call from succeeding; it does not protect individual items from being deleted. Both features are enabled via the AWS Management Console, CLI, or SDK with no custom scripts required.
Key takeaway
DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Review dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Design Resilient Architectures — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
Design Resilient Architectures practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
All SAA-C03 questions
1,040 questions across all exam domains
SAA-C03 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
SAA-C03 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Secure Architectures.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Resilient Architectures.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design High-Performing Architectures.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Cost-Optimized Architectures.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Design Resilient Architectures — This question tests Design Resilient Architectures — DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days..
The correct answer is: Deletion protection or tightly controlled delete permissions — Deletion protection (option A) prevents accidental deletion of the DynamoDB table itself, which is critical for the accidental-delete protection requirement. Point-in-time recovery (option B) enables restoring the table to any point within the last 35 days, satisfying the point-in-time recovery requirement. Both features are native DynamoDB capabilities that require no custom scripts.
Review dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
DynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups for 35 days.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.