SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company wants to serve static content (images and videos) to users worldwide with low latency. The content is stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. What is the most cost-effective solution?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Global Accelerator (which optimizes network path but does not cache) with a CDN like CloudFront, or mistakenly think S3 Transfer Acceleration improves download performance for end users when it only accelerates uploads to S3.
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 CloudFront with the S3 bucket as the origin.
Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches static content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for users. Using an S3 bucket as the origin is cost-effective because CloudFront egress costs are often lower than direct S3 data transfer, and you only pay for data transfer out from CloudFront and occasional origin fetches. This solution minimizes origin load and provides low-latency delivery without the overhead of managing servers or additional acceleration services.
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 AWS Global Accelerator with endpoints pointing to the S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Global Accelerator routes TCP/UDP traffic over the AWS backbone to endpoints; it does not cache S3 objects at edge locations, so every user request still reaches the bucket. It tempts because Global Accelerator genuinely reduces latency for dynamic, non-cacheable workloads such as gaming or VoIP.
- ✗
Deploy EC2 instances in multiple Regions and use a load balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Deploying EC2 instances with a load balancer introduces compute overhead and ongoing management costs that are unnecessary for serving static content, which requires no server-side processing. This approach is tempting because it is a standard pattern for dynamic, stateful web applications that need regional distribution and traffic routing, where EC2’s compute capacity would be the correct choice.
- ✓
Use Amazon CloudFront with the S3 bucket as the origin.
Why this is correct
CloudFront caches objects at edge locations worldwide, so repeated requests are served from the nearest point of presence rather than from the S3 bucket's Region, cutting latency. You pay only for data transfer out and requests, with no upfront cost, satisfying the worldwide low-latency and cost-effectiveness constraints.
- ✗
Host the content directly from the S3 bucket and use S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds uploads into a bucket via edge locations; it does not cache content for download, so global readers still fetch from the bucket's Region. It tempts because Transfer Acceleration genuinely accelerates large uploads over long distances into S3.
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
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Variation 1. A company needs to provide a global content delivery solution with low latency. Which AWS service should they use?
easy- A.Amazon S3
- B.Amazon EC2
- C.Amazon Route 53
- ✓ D.Amazon CloudFront
Why D: Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches content at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency by serving data from the nearest edge to the user. It integrates with origins like S3, EC2, or on-premises servers and supports both static and dynamic content acceleration, making it the correct choice for low-latency global delivery.
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.