You store application logs in an S3 bucket. After 30 days, the logs are rarely accessed, but you must retain them for 1 year for compliance. Which S3 feature is the best way to reduce storage cost while meeting the retention requirement?

Keep all logs in S3 Standard and rely on lower request rates to reduce cost

Request rate does not offset storage cost differences between storage classes. Keeping everything in S3 Standard is usually the most expensive option for long-term retention, even if objects are accessed rarely.

Copy logs to EBS snapshots each week and delete the original files

EBS snapshots are intended for backing up block storage (EBS volumes). They are not the best tool for application log retention in S3 and typically add unnecessary operational complexity and retention management overhead.

Use S3 replication to a second bucket in another region to reduce costs

Replication is meant for redundancy and cross-region availability. It generally increases cost due to replication requests and storing data in another region; it does not reduce storage-class cost for the primary copy.

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition older objects to a colder storage class after 30 days, then expire after 1 year — The best approach is an S3 lifecycle policy because it matches the retention pattern: logs must be kept for 1 year, but they become infrequently accessed after 30 days. A lifecycle rule can transition objects to a cheaper storage class once they age past 30 days, and an expiration rule can delete them only after 1 year. The other choices either keep data in the most expensive storage class, use an inappropriate storage primitive (EBS snapshots) for log retention, or use replication, which does not address storage-class pricing and can increase cost. Why others are wrong: Keeping logs in S3 Standard ignores the main cost lever: storage class selection. EBS snapshots are not designed for general application log retention. Replication does not reduce storage cost for the original objects and can increase costs by storing/copying data in another region.

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.