SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A media company runs a video processing pipeline on AWS. Videos are uploaded to an S3 bucket, which triggers an AWS Lambda function that transcodes the video into multiple formats using FFmpeg. The transcoding job runs on the Lambda function with a 15-minute timeout. Recently, the company started receiving 4K videos that take more than 15 minutes to transcode. The Lambda function times out, and the video is not processed. The company wants to process these large videos without increasing the Lambda timeout and without rewriting the entire pipeline. What should the solutions architect do?
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
✓
Replace the Lambda function with AWS Elemental MediaConvert job triggered by S3 events.
AWS Elemental MediaConvert is a managed service designed for video transcoding. It can handle large files and long-running jobs. The pipeline can be modified to trigger a MediaConvert job instead of a Lambda function. Option B is incorrect because Lambda functions have a maximum execution time of 15 minutes; increasing memory does not extend timeout. Option C is incorrect because using a larger Lambda function still has the 15-minute limit. Option D is incorrect because Step Functions orchestrate Lambda functions but do not extend the individual Lambda timeout.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Replace the Lambda function with AWS Elemental MediaConvert job triggered by S3 events.
Why this is correct
MediaConvert supports long-running jobs and is designed for video processing.
- ✗
Increase the Lambda function memory to the maximum to improve performance and reduce processing time.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing memory may speed up processing but does not guarantee completion under 15 minutes.
- ✗
Use AWS Step Functions to call multiple Lambda functions in parallel to process chunks of the video.
Why it's wrong here
Step Functions can orchestrate multiple functions but splitting video processing is complex and may still hit timeouts.
- ✗
Use a Lambda function with a larger ephemeral storage to handle the video file.
Why it's wrong here
Ephemeral storage does not extend timeout; the function will still timeout.
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 |
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