Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A static marketing site is served through CloudFront from an S3 origin. After a product update, customers report a drop in CloudFront cache hit ratio and the CloudFront bill increases because the origin is receiving many more requests for the same JS/CSS assets. Asset URLs are versioned, but requests now include an Authorization header even though these assets are public. Which CloudFront change most directly improves the cache hit ratio for these assets?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Increase the origin's max connections to handle more origin fetches
This addresses capacity but does not reduce the number of origin requests that drive costs.
B
Best answer
Configure the CloudFront cache policy so Authorization is not included in the cache key, and use an origin request policy that does not forward Authorization to the S3 origin for this behavior
For public assets, Authorization should not vary the cache key. Removing it from the cache key allows CloudFront to reuse cached objects across requests, and not forwarding it to the origin avoids unnecessary origin variation and request overhead.
C
Distractor review
Set CloudFront minimum TTL to 0 seconds so caches expire faster and origin fetches start again
This would reduce cache effectiveness and worsen origin traffic rather than improve it.
D
Distractor review
Disable CloudFront compression because Authorization headers are not cacheable when compression is enabled
Compression settings are not the root cause of the cache hit ratio drop in this case.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: authentication is not authorization
Logging in proves the user can authenticate. It does not automatically mean the user is allowed to enter privileged or configuration mode. Watch for AAA authorization, privilege level and command authorization details.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This kind of question is testing the difference between identity and permission. A user may successfully log in to a router because authentication is working, but still fail to enter configuration mode because authorization is missing, misconfigured or mapped to a lower privilege level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Authentication checks who the user is.
- Authorization controls what the user is allowed to do after login.
- Privilege levels affect access to EXEC and configuration commands.
- AAA, TACACS+ and RADIUS can separate login success from command access.
TExam Day Tips
- Do not assume successful login means full administrative access.
- Look for words such as cannot enter configuration mode, privilege level, authorization or command access.
- Separate login problems from permission problems before choosing the answer.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A team needs to distribute TCP traffic (not HTTP) across multiple services. The services must see the original client source IP for auditing. Which AWS load balancer is the best fit?
Question 2
A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?
Question 3
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a IoT ingestion API. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Question 4
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Question 5
A team wants to delegate IAM management to developers, but must ensure developers can never grant themselves permissions beyond a specific limit. Which AWS mechanism best matches this requirement?
Question 6
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a healthcare document service. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Authentication checks who the user is.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure the CloudFront cache policy so Authorization is not included in the cache key, and use an origin request policy that does not forward Authorization to the S3 origin for this behavior — CloudFront cache hit ratio drops when unnecessary request attributes are part of the cache key or forwarded to the origin. For public JS/CSS assets, Authorization should not be used to differentiate cached content. The correct fix is to configure the cache policy so Authorization is excluded from the cache key and to avoid forwarding it to the origin for this behavior. That allows CloudFront to reuse the same cached response for all viewers and reduces origin fetch costs. Increasing origin connection limits may help capacity but does not reduce origin request volume. Reducing TTLs would increase cache churn and worsen costs. Compression does not address the underlying cache-key problem.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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