SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is building a serverless application using AWS Lambda. The application processes files uploaded to an S3 bucket. Each file can be up to 500 MB, and processing takes up to 10 minutes. The Lambda function must be triggered as soon as a file is uploaded. Which configuration should they use?
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
✓
Configure S3 event notification to invoke the Lambda function directly.
S3 event notifications can directly invoke a Lambda function when an object is created, which meets the requirement of triggering the function as soon as a file is uploaded. Lambda supports a maximum timeout of 15 minutes and up to 10 GB of memory, so the 10-minute processing time and 500 MB file size are within limits. Option A is incorrect because using SQS between S3 and Lambda adds unnecessary complexity and latency, and is not needed when the direct trigger works. Option C is incorrect because increasing timeout and memory addresses resource limits but does not affect triggering; moreover, the default timeout can be set to 10 minutes without issue. Option D is incorrect because Step Functions add unnecessary orchestration complexity when a simple event trigger suffices.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use S3 event notification to send an SQS message, which triggers Lambda.
Why it's wrong here
Adding SQS is unnecessary overhead; direct invocation works.
- ✓
Configure S3 event notification to invoke the Lambda function directly.
Why this is correct
S3 can directly invoke Lambda for each object creation event.
- ✗
Increase the Lambda function timeout to 15 minutes and memory to 3 GB.
Why it's wrong here
Timeout and memory are fine, but the trigger mechanism is missing.
- ✗
Use AWS Step Functions to poll S3 and invoke Lambda.
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions would add complexity and latency.
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
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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