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. A key principle to apply: dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups.. 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 architecture review board prefers a managed AWS-native control.
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
Point-in-time recovery (PITR) enables continuous backups of the DynamoDB table, allowing restoration to any point within the last 35 days, which satisfies the requirement for point-in-time recovery. Deletion protection prevents accidental deletion of the table by blocking drop-table operations, meeting the accidental-delete protection requirement. Both are managed AWS-native controls that require no custom scripting or external tooling.
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
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse operational features like DAX (caching) or GSIs (indexing) with data protection mechanisms, but neither provides backup/restore or deletion safeguards required for resilience and data durability.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Point-in-time recovery uses continuous incremental backups stored in Amazon S3, with a restore time typically under 60 minutes regardless of table size. Deletion protection is enforced at the DynamoDB API level, blocking DeleteTable requests even if the caller has full administrative permissions. When PITR is enabled, DynamoDB automatically retains up to 35 days of write activity, and you can restore to any second within that window using the RestoreTableToPointInTime API.
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
The correct answer is: Deletion protection or tightly controlled delete permissions — Point-in-time recovery (PITR) enables continuous backups of the DynamoDB table, allowing restoration to any point within the last 35 days, which satisfies the requirement for point-in-time recovery. Deletion protection prevents accidental deletion of the table by blocking drop-table operations, meeting the accidental-delete protection requirement. Both are managed AWS-native controls that require no custom scripting or external tooling.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Review dynamoDB Point-in-time recovery (PITR) provides continuous backups., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
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 →
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.
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.