SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
A startup runs a static marketing website on Amazon S3 and wants to serve it to users worldwide with low latency. The site consists of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and images stored in a single S3 bucket in the us-east-1 Region. The team wants to minimize cost while improving global performance. Which solution should the team implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse S3 Transfer Acceleration, which speeds up data transfer, with CloudFront, which caches content at edge locations for low-latency delivery.
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
✓
Create an Amazon CloudFront distribution with the S3 bucket as the origin and use the default cache behavior.
CloudFront is the standard AWS service for delivering static content globally with low latency. It caches objects at edge locations, reducing the number of requests that reach the S3 origin and improving performance for users everywhere. Cross-Region Replication, EC2-hosted content, and Transfer Acceleration either add cost and complexity or do not provide edge caching, making them less suitable for this scenario.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create an Amazon CloudFront distribution with the S3 bucket as the origin and use the default cache behavior.
Why this is correct
CloudFront caches content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for global users by serving requests from the nearest edge. Using the S3 bucket as the origin with default cache behavior is a low-cost, standard pattern for static sites. It requires minimal configuration and scales automatically, making it the best fit for the startup's goals.
- ✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the bucket and update the website URLs to use the accelerated endpoint.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration optimizes uploads and downloads over long distances by using AWS edge locations, but it is designed for transfer speed, not for caching static content at the edge. It does not cache objects, so every request still goes to the origin bucket, and it adds an acceleration fee. For a global static website, CloudFront is the appropriate and more cost-effective choice.
- ✗
Enable S3 Cross-Region Replication to replicate the bucket to multiple Regions and direct users to the closest bucket using latency-based routing.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-Region Replication copies objects to other Regions, but users still need a way to be routed to the closest copy, typically requiring Route 53 latency-based routing and separate website endpoints. This adds replication storage and request costs, plus operational complexity. It does not provide edge caching, so latency improvements are less than with a CDN and costs are higher.
- ✗
Move the website content to an Amazon EBS volume attached to an EC2 instance in each Region and serve it with a web server.
Why it's wrong here
Serving static content from EC2 instances with EBS volumes requires managing servers, patching, and scaling in multiple Regions. It is more expensive and operationally heavy than S3 and CloudFront, and it does not provide global edge caching by default. This approach contradicts the goal of minimizing cost while improving global performance.
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 |
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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.