SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company's AWS CloudTrail logs are stored in an S3 bucket. A Solutions Architect needs to analyze the logs to identify API calls that created or modified IAM roles in the last 30 days. What is the MOST efficient way to perform this analysis?
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 Amazon Athena to run SQL queries on the logs.
Amazon Athena enables running SQL queries directly on CloudTrail logs stored in S3 without the need to move or transform data. This is the most efficient method for analyzing historical CloudTrail data. Option A is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs Insights is designed for logs stored in CloudWatch Logs, not for S3-stored CloudTrail logs. Option C is incorrect because using Lambda to export to Redshift adds unnecessary complexity and cost compared to querying in place with Athena. Option D is incorrect because S3 Select is limited to filtering data within a single object and does not support complex SQL queries across multiple log files.
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 Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights to query the logs.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs Insights works with CloudWatch Logs, not directly with CloudTrail logs stored in S3.
- ✓
Use Amazon Athena to run SQL queries on the logs.
Why this is correct
Athena can directly query CloudTrail logs in S3 using SQL, making it efficient for this analysis.
- ✗
Use an AWS Lambda function to process the logs and export to Amazon Redshift.
Why it's wrong here
This approach adds unnecessary complexity and cost compared to using Athena.
- ✗
Use S3 Select to filter the records.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Select is for simple filtering of a single object, not for complex queries across multiple log files.
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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