SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is using Amazon CloudFront to serve content from an S3 origin. The content is updated infrequently. Users in some regions report seeing stale content. The company wants to ensure that users always see the latest version without waiting for TTL expiration. What is the MOST cost-effective solution?
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 file versioning in the URL (e.g., appending a query string or using a unique object key).
File versioning (changing the URL or appending a query string) is the most cost-effective solution because it guarantees that users always fetch the latest version from the origin without waiting for TTL expiration. This approach avoids the costs associated with CloudFront invalidations (Option D) and does not increase load on the origin as a very short TTL would (Option B). Option C (origin shield) helps reduce requests to the origin but does not force existing cached content to be refreshed. Therefore, file versioning is the best practice for infrequently updated content.
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 file versioning in the URL (e.g., appending a query string or using a unique object key).
Why this is correct
Unique URLs force CloudFront to fetch new content from origin.
- ✗
Set a very short TTL (e.g., 0 seconds) for the CloudFront distribution.
Why it's wrong here
This increases load on the origin and defeats caching benefits.
- ✗
Use an origin shield to reduce the number of requests to S3.
Why it's wrong here
Origin shield does not help with stale content.
- ✗
Create a CloudFront invalidation request for the changed files after each update.
Why it's wrong here
Invalidations incur costs and are manual.
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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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SAP-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using Amazon CloudFront with an S3 origin. They notice that users are receiving outdated content. What configuration change should be made to ensure users always get the latest content?
medium- A.Use signed URLs to serve content.
- ✓ B.Create an invalidation for the objects.
- C.Enable compression on the S3 bucket.
- D.Reduce the TTL to 0 in the CloudFront distribution.
Why B: Creating an invalidation removes cached objects from CloudFront edge locations, forcing them to be refreshed from the origin. Option A is incorrect because signed URLs control access, not cache freshness. Option C is incorrect because compression does not affect whether cached or fresh content is served. Option D is incorrect because reducing TTL to 0 would cause every request to go to the origin, increasing load and latency; invalidations are more efficient.
JA
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.