SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company wants to store application logs in Amazon S3 with a lifecycle policy that moves objects to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval after 30 days and deletes them after 1 year. The logs are accessed frequently in the first 30 days but rarely after. Which storage class should the company use for the first 30 days?
⚠ Common exam trap
The common trap is selecting S3 Standard-IA (Option B) due to its lower storage cost, but failing to account for retrieval fees and the 30-day minimum charge. For frequently accessed data with short retention, S3 Standard is more cost-effective.
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
✓
S3 Standard
S3 Standard is the correct choice because the logs are accessed frequently during the first 30 days. Standard provides low-latency access with no retrieval fees, and the lifecycle policy can transition objects to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval after 30 days. For data that is accessed multiple times within a short retention period, Standard is more cost-effective than Standard-IA, which incurs retrieval fees and a 30-day minimum storage charge.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
S3 Standard
Why this is correct
S3 Standard is appropriate for frequently accessed data. It has no retrieval fees, making it cost-effective for logs accessed multiple times in the first 30 days. The lifecycle transition to Glacier Instant Retrieval after 30 days is seamless.
- ✗
S3 Standard-IA
Why it's wrong here
S3 Standard-IA is designed for data accessed less frequently than once a month. Although it has lower storage costs, it charges retrieval fees and has a 30-day minimum storage duration. For frequently accessed logs, the retrieval fees and minimum charge make it more expensive than Standard.
- ✗
S3 One Zone-IA
Why it's wrong here
S3 One Zone-IA is not suitable because it does not provide the durability and availability required for application logs, as it stores data in a single Availability Zone. Additionally, it incurs retrieval fees for frequent access.
- ✗
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval
Why it's wrong here
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval is for archival data with retrieval times of minutes to hours. It is not appropriate for data that needs immediate access within the first 30 days.
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
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.