SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a data lake solution on Amazon S3. Data is ingested from multiple sources and stored in a raw bucket. The data must be processed and transformed before being moved to a curated bucket. The processing logic is complex and includes conditional transformations. Which service should be used to orchestrate the transformation pipeline?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse AWS Glue ETL jobs as an orchestration tool because it can transform data, but Glue is a processing engine, not a workflow orchestrator; Step Functions is the correct service for coordinating complex, conditional pipelines.
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
✓
AWS Step Functions
AWS Step Functions is the correct choice because it is designed to orchestrate complex, multi-step workflows with conditional branching, retries, and error handling. It can coordinate AWS Lambda functions, AWS Glue jobs, and other services to process and transform data from a raw S3 bucket to a curated bucket, making it ideal for a transformation pipeline with complex logic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Data Pipeline
Why it's wrong here
AWS Data Pipeline is a legacy orchestration service scheduled for end-of-support, and it lacks native support for the complex conditional transformation logic required here. It suits simple scheduled data movement between AWS services. Step Functions provides the branching and state management this pipeline needs.
- ✓
AWS Step Functions
Why this is correct
AWS Step Functions orchestrates multi-step workflows with conditional branching via Choice states, satisfying the complex, conditional transformation logic the stem requires. Unlike AWS Glue, which runs Apache Spark jobs, Step Functions coordinates Lambda, Glue, and EMR tasks in sequence, making it the appropriate orchestration layer for moving processed data between raw and curated buckets.
- ✗
AWS Lambda functions
Why it's wrong here
Lambda functions run individual transformation snippets, but they impose a 15-minute timeout and no native workflow state, so complex conditional pipelines spanning many steps cannot be coordinated. Lambda is right for short event-driven tasks, not multi-stage orchestration with branching logic.
- ✗
AWS Glue ETL jobs
Why it's wrong here
AWS Glue ETL jobs execute the transformation logic itself, but the question asks which service orchestrates the pipeline, including conditional branching across multiple steps. Glue is the correct choice when you need serverless Spark-based transformation code, not workflow coordination with dependencies and triggers.
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 |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 exam.