- A
Use AWS Glue to create a data catalog and run ETL jobs for both streaming and batch data.
Glue provides a data catalog and ETL capabilities.
- B
Use AWS Lake Formation to set up the data lake and use its built-in catalog.
Why wrong: Lake Formation uses Glue catalog, but the question asks for a combination.
- C
Use Amazon Athena to create tables and partitions directly from S3.
Why wrong: Athena can query data but does not provide a managed catalog.
- D
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to deliver streaming data to S3 and catalog with Athena.
Why wrong: Firehose does not catalog data.
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is designing a data lake on AWS using Amazon S3 as the storage layer. The data lake will ingest data from multiple sources, including streaming data from Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and batch data from on-premises systems via AWS Snowball. The company needs to catalog the data and make it available for querying with Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift Spectrum. Which combination of services should the company use to meet these requirements?
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 Glue to create a data catalog and run ETL jobs for both streaming and batch data.
AWS Glue provides a fully managed data catalog that integrates with Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift Spectrum, making it the central metadata repository for the data lake. It can run ETL jobs for both streaming data (via Glue Streaming ETL) and batch data (via Glue Crawlers and Jobs), satisfying the requirement to catalog and prepare data from Kinesis Data Streams and Snowball. This combination directly meets the need for a unified catalog and query readiness.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Glue to create a data catalog and run ETL jobs for both streaming and batch data.
Why this is correct
Glue provides a data catalog and ETL capabilities.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use AWS Lake Formation to set up the data lake and use its built-in catalog.
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation uses Glue catalog, but the question asks for a combination.
- ✗
Use Amazon Athena to create tables and partitions directly from S3.
Why it's wrong here
Athena can query data but does not provide a managed catalog.
- ✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to deliver streaming data to S3 and catalog with Athena.
Why it's wrong here
Firehose does not catalog data.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume Lake Formation (Option B) is the primary catalog service, but it actually uses the Glue Data Catalog as its foundation, and the question requires ETL capabilities that Lake Formation does not natively provide.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Glue Streaming ETL uses Apache Spark Structured Streaming under the hood, allowing continuous processing of data from Kinesis Data Streams with exactly-once semantics. Glue Crawlers automatically infer schema and populate the Data Catalog, which is Apache Hive Metastore-compatible, enabling seamless integration with Athena and Redshift Spectrum without manual table creation. For batch data from Snowball, Glue Jobs can read data from S3 and perform transformations, with the catalog automatically updated to reflect new partitions.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Design for New Solutions — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Glue to create a data catalog and run ETL jobs for both streaming and batch data. — AWS Glue provides a fully managed data catalog that integrates with Amazon Athena and Amazon Redshift Spectrum, making it the central metadata repository for the data lake. It can run ETL jobs for both streaming data (via Glue Streaming ETL) and batch data (via Glue Crawlers and Jobs), satisfying the requirement to catalog and prepare data from Kinesis Data Streams and Snowball. This combination directly meets the need for a unified catalog and query readiness.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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