SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
An application stores user-uploaded binaries in S3. Access is unpredictable for the first month, then most objects become cold. The team wants the cheapest approach that avoids manually guessing access patterns. Which two actions are best? Select two.
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that lifecycle rules require manual guessing of access patterns, when S3 Intelligent-Tiering automates this without upfront configuration, and that versioning is a prerequisite for Intelligent-Tiering, which it is not.
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
✓
Enable S3 Intelligent-Tiering on the bucket.
A is correct because S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers based on changing access patterns, eliminating the need to manually guess or configure lifecycle rules. It charges a small monthly monitoring fee per object but avoids the higher cost of keeping cold data in S3 Standard, making it the cheapest hands-off approach for unpredictable access followed by cold storage.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enable S3 Intelligent-Tiering on the bucket.
Why this is correct
Correct. Intelligent-Tiering is designed for objects with uncertain or changing access patterns. It automatically moves data between access tiers, reducing the need for manual guessing and avoiding overpaying for standard storage.
- ✗
Keep all objects in S3 Standard because lifecycle transitions add too much management.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. S3 Standard is the most expensive common general-purpose class, so keeping everything there defeats the cost objective. The workload description specifically suggests that access patterns change over time.
- ✓
Add a lifecycle rule to move very old objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive when minute-level retrieval is no longer required.
Why this is correct
Correct. Deep Archive is the cheapest destination for very cold binaries that do not need fast restores. Pairing lifecycle transitions with Intelligent-Tiering gives a good cost profile across both uncertain and truly cold phases.
- ✗
Copy all binaries to Amazon EFS so retrieval is faster.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. EFS is a shared file system, not a low-cost object archive. Copying binary uploads to EFS would usually increase cost and introduce the wrong storage model for this access pattern.
- ✗
Disable versioning because S3 Intelligent-Tiering needs it to work.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Intelligent-Tiering does not require versioning to function. Turning off versioning also does not address the core issue, which is matching storage cost to changing access frequency.
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
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 302 original SAA-C03 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.