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. An IAM policy is attached to a user. When the user tries to upload an object to the S3 bucket 'my-bucket' using the AWS CLI without specifying server-side encryption, the upload fails. What is the MOST likely reason?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The policy requires server-side encryption with AES256, but the request did not include the encryption header.
Option B is correct because the IAM policy explicitly requires the `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` condition with a value of `AES256`. When the user uploads an object via the AWS CLI without specifying the `--server-side-encryption AES256` flag, the request lacks the required encryption header, causing the condition in the policy to fail and the upload to be denied. The policy does not deny all uploads without encryption—it only denies those that fail to meet the specific encryption requirement.
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 bucket policy denies all uploads without encryption.
Why it's wrong here
The exhibit shows user policy, not bucket policy.
✓
The policy requires server-side encryption with AES256, but the request did not include the encryption header.
Why this is correct
The condition enforces encryption.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The user is not the bucket owner.
Why it's wrong here
Not relevant to the policy.
✗
The user does not have permission to call s3:PutObject.
Why it's wrong here
The policy allows s3:PutObject.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may assume the failure is due to missing `s3:PutObject` permission (Option D) or a blanket bucket policy (Option A), but the real issue is the conditional `Deny` that enforces encryption headers, which is a subtle but critical distinction in IAM policy evaluation logic.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
The exhibit shows user policy, not bucket policy.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The IAM policy uses a `Deny` effect with a `StringNotEquals` condition on `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption`, which means any request that does not include the header with value `AES256` is explicitly denied. This is a common pattern to enforce encryption at upload time, leveraging AWS's condition keys that evaluate request headers. In practice, the AWS CLI must include `--server-side-encryption AES256` to satisfy the condition; otherwise, the `Deny` overrides the `Allow` for `s3:PutObject`.
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 policy requires server-side encryption with AES256, but the request did not include the encryption header. — Option B is correct because the IAM policy explicitly requires the `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` condition with a value of `AES256`. When the user uploads an object via the AWS CLI without specifying the `--server-side-encryption AES256` flag, the request lacks the required encryption header, causing the condition in the policy to fail and the upload to be denied. The policy does not deny all uploads without encryption—it only denies those that fail to meet the specific encryption requirement.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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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