SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A solutions architect has attached this IAM policy to an IAM role used by an application. The application is trying to upload an object to the S3 bucket example-bucket with server-side encryption using AWS KMS (SSE-KMS). What will happen?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The upload fails because the policy requires SSE-S3.
The IAM policy explicitly requires the `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` header to be set to `AES256` (SSE-S3) via the `StringEquals` condition. Since the application is attempting to use SSE-KMS, the encryption header will be `aws:kms`, which does not match the required value. Therefore, the condition fails, and the `s3:PutObject` action is denied, causing the upload to fail.
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.
✗
The upload succeeds because the policy allows s3:PutObject for the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The condition requires SSE-S3, not SSE-KMS.
✓
The upload fails because the policy requires SSE-S3.
Why this is correct
The condition StringEquals on s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption must be AES256, but the request uses SSE-KMS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The upload fails because the bucket policy does not allow SSE-KMS.
Why it's wrong here
The bucket policy is not shown; the IAM policy alone denies the request.
✗
The upload succeeds because the condition only applies to encryption at rest.
Why it's wrong here
The condition applies to the request header, so it matters.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume the `s3:PutObject` action alone grants permission, overlooking the restrictive condition that requires a specific encryption header value, which is a common IAM policy nuance tested on the SAP-C02 exam.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
The bucket policy is not shown; the IAM policy alone denies the request.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAM policy conditions using `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` are evaluated against the request headers. When using SSE-KMS, the header value is `aws:kms`, while SSE-S3 uses `AES256`. The `StringEquals` condition is case-sensitive and exact-match, so any deviation (including using KMS) results in an implicit deny. This is a common pattern to enforce a specific encryption method across an organization, often used to prevent the additional cost or complexity of KMS when SSE-S3 is sufficient.
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.
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: The upload fails because the policy requires SSE-S3. — The IAM policy explicitly requires the `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` header to be set to `AES256` (SSE-S3) via the `StringEquals` condition. Since the application is attempting to use SSE-KMS, the encryption header will be `aws:kms`, which does not match the required value. Therefore, the condition fails, and the `s3:PutObject` action is denied, causing the upload to fail.
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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Question Discussion
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