SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A media company is deploying a new video transcoding pipeline on AWS. The pipeline will process thousands of small input files stored in Amazon S3, and each file must be transcoded independently. The transcoding jobs are short (under 5 minutes) and stateless. The company wants a solution that scales automatically, minimizes operational overhead, and provides near-real-time processing. Which design should a solutions architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any scalable compute service (like AWS Batch or Step Functions with EC2) is equally suitable, overlooking the need for event-driven, near-real-time processing and minimal operational overhead.
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 AWS Lambda functions triggered by S3 event notifications to process each file as it is uploaded.
The requirement for near-real-time processing of small, independent files with minimal operational overhead points to a serverless, event-driven architecture. AWS Lambda integrates natively with S3 event notifications, allowing each uploaded file to trigger a function immediately. Lambda scales automatically and eliminates server management. Other options introduce polling, orchestration overhead, or unsuitable services, failing to meet the low-latency and low-ops goals.
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 Lambda functions triggered by S3 event notifications to process each file as it is uploaded.
Why this is correct
AWS Lambda is ideal for short, stateless, event-driven tasks. S3 event notifications can invoke a Lambda function synchronously when an object is created, enabling near-real-time processing. Lambda automatically scales with the number of events, and there is no infrastructure to manage. This matches the requirements for low operational overhead and automatic scaling for small, independent transcoding jobs.
- ✗
Use AWS Step Functions to orchestrate a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances that poll an Amazon SQS queue for new files.
Why it's wrong here
While Step Functions can coordinate workflows, using EC2 instances introduces operational overhead for provisioning, patching, and scaling. Polling an SQS queue adds latency compared to event-driven triggers. This design is more complex and less responsive than necessary for short, stateless transcoding jobs, and it does not minimize operational overhead as required.
- ✗
Use AWS Batch with a managed compute environment to run transcoding jobs on Amazon EC2 Spot Instances.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Batch is powerful for batch processing but is not event-driven by S3 uploads. It requires job submission and queue management, adding latency and operational effort. Spot Instances can reduce cost but may be interrupted, which could delay processing. This design does not provide near-real-time processing and adds management overhead compared to a serverless approach.
- ✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to stream the video files to Amazon Elastic Transcoder for processing.
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis Data Firehose is designed for streaming data delivery to destinations like S3, Redshift, or Elasticsearch, not for invoking transcoding services. Elastic Transcoder requires job creation and is not triggered directly by Firehose. This approach is not suitable for processing files as they are uploaded and would require additional custom components, increasing complexity.
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 and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.