Courseiva
← SAA-C03
Full test
Question 1,020 of 1,040
Design High-Performing Architectures →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is to update origin responses to include long-lived Cache-Control headers like max-age. This is correct because CloudFront relies on the Cache-Control header from the origin to determine how long it can keep a static asset at an edge location; without explicit caching directives, CloudFront defaults to a shorter cache duration or re-validates with the origin on every request, drastically lowering the cache hit ratio. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how CloudFront and S3 interact to optimize content delivery, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly suggest invalidating the cache or changing the TTL in CloudFront’s behavior settings—but the real fix is configuring the origin itself to send proper headers. A common memory tip is “headers at the source, not the edge”: always set Cache-Control on the S3 object metadata or via Lambda@Edge, because CloudFront respects the origin’s headers first. Remember the mnemonic “CACHE” for Control headers, Age, Cache hit ratio, HTTP origin, and Edge longevity.

SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question

This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design high-performing architectures. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

Your team serves static JavaScript and CSS files from an S3 origin through CloudFront. After a release, the CloudFront cache hit ratio dropped because clients keep re-downloading the same assets. What is the best next change to improve caching performance?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

  • Clue: "best"

    Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

Question 1easymultiple choice
Full question →

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

✓

Update origin responses to include long-lived Cache-Control headers (for example, max-age) so CloudFront can cache objects

Option A is correct because setting long-lived Cache-Control headers (e.g., max-age=31536000) on static assets tells CloudFront to cache them at edge locations for an extended period. This reduces the number of requests forwarded to the S3 origin, improving the cache hit ratio and preventing clients from re-downloading unchanged assets on every visit.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✓

    Update origin responses to include long-lived Cache-Control headers (for example, max-age) so CloudFront can cache objects

    Why this is correct

    CloudFront will only reuse cached objects when the origin response is cacheable. Adding/adjusting Cache-Control (and related directives such as public and s-maxage where appropriate) to allow long-lived caching enables edge reuse and increases cache hit ratio.

    Clue confirmation

    The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    Switch the S3 bucket to S3 Glacier so objects are not frequently accessed

    Why it's wrong here

    Glacier is designed for archival storage and introduces retrieval delays. Static website assets delivered via CloudFront would suffer significant latency and would not meet the low-latency caching goal.

  • ✗

    Disable CloudFront compression to reduce CPU usage at the edge

    Why it's wrong here

    Compression affects transfer size, not whether the response is cacheable. Disabling compression may increase bandwidth and slow downloads, but it does not correct the reason clients are missing cache entries.

  • ✗

    Set CloudFront to forward all query strings to the origin to ensure the latest assets are returned

    Why it's wrong here

    Forwarding query strings increases cache fragmentation by creating more unique cache keys, which typically reduces cache hit ratio. It also does not solve cacheability issues caused by short/no-cache headers.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may think forwarding query strings (Option D) ensures freshness, but it actually fragments the cache and reduces hit ratio, whereas the real solution is to use long-lived Cache-Control headers with versioned filenames to maximize caching.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

CloudFront uses the Cache-Control max-age directive from the origin response to determine how long to cache an object at the edge. For static assets with versioned filenames (e.g., app.abc123.js), a max-age of one year is safe because the URL changes on each release, ensuring clients fetch the new version while old versions remain cached. Without these headers, CloudFront defaults to a shorter cache duration (e.g., 24 hours based on the origin's Last-Modified header), causing frequent revalidation and lower hit ratios.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
  • Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
  • Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

  • Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
  • Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Related practice questions

Related SAA-C03 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

Design Secure Architectures practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Secure Architectures.

Design Resilient Architectures practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Resilient Architectures.

Design High-Performing Architectures practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design High-Performing Architectures.

Design Cost-Optimized Architectures practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to Design Cost-Optimized Architectures.

SAA-C03 VPC practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.

SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.

SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.

SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.

SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.

SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.

SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.

SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions

Practise SAA-C03 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.

Practice this exam

Start a free SAA-C03 practice session

Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.

10 questions20 questions30 questions50 questionsTimed 30
SAA-C03 practice-test guide →Study guide →Browse all practice tests

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Design High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Update origin responses to include long-lived Cache-Control headers (for example, max-age) so CloudFront can cache objects — Option A is correct because setting long-lived Cache-Control headers (e.g., max-age=31536000) on static assets tells CloudFront to cache them at edge locations for an extended period. This reduces the number of requests forwarded to the S3 origin, improving the cache hit ratio and preventing clients from re-downloading unchanged assets on every visit.

What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

How Courseiva writes practice questions · Editorial policy

Keep practising

More SAA-C03 practice questions

Browse all SAA-C03 questions →

Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026

Question Discussion

Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.

Loading comments…

Sign in to join the discussion.

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.