Question 955 of 302
SAA-C03 Design Resilient Architectures Practice Question
An order system receives events and uses a Lambda function to write each order into a database. During traffic spikes, the database sometimes throttles, and Lambda retries lead to occasional message loss in the event flow. The team wants buffering, automatic retries, and a way to isolate messages that repeatedly fail so they can be inspected later. What design change best meets this need?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers think EventBridge or S3 triggers provide sufficient retry and isolation, but they lack the built-in DLQ and configurable retry mechanics that SQS offers for decoupling and resilience.
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
✓
Use Amazon SQS as a buffer between the event source and Lambda, with an SQS dead-letter queue (DLQ).
B is correct because Amazon SQS acts as a durable buffer between the event source and Lambda, absorbing traffic spikes and providing automatic retries via its visibility timeout mechanism. By attaching a dead-letter queue (DLQ) to the SQS queue, messages that repeatedly fail processing can be isolated for later inspection, preventing data loss and enabling debugging.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Send events directly from EventBridge to Lambda without any queue to simplify the flow.
Why it's wrong here
Direct invocation provides less buffering and no dedicated dead-letter handling for persistent failures.
- ✓
Use Amazon SQS as a buffer between the event source and Lambda, with an SQS dead-letter queue (DLQ).
Why this is correct
SQS buffers bursts, supports retries via visibility timeouts, and DLQs capture messages that fail repeatedly for later review.
- ✗
Use SNS fan-out to multiple Lambda functions, but keep no retry logic and no DLQ.
Why it's wrong here
SNS fan-out doesn’t provide the same buffering model as SQS, and without a DLQ you lose failed event traceability.
- ✗
Store events in an S3 bucket and trigger Lambda immediately after each upload, without using DLQs.
Why it's wrong here
S3 event notifications can trigger Lambda, but they do not provide DLQ-based isolation and standard queue retries the same way.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.
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