- A
Amazon Redshift with data sharing to retain logs for 5 years.
Why wrong: Redshift is for data warehousing, not for simple log storage.
- B
Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, and Amazon Athena for SQL queries.
S3 is cost-effective, lifecycle policies automate archival, Athena allows SQL queries.
- C
Amazon OpenSearch Service with UltraWarm storage to archive logs after 90 days.
Why wrong: OpenSearch does not natively support SQL and is more expensive for long-term storage.
- D
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with automated backups to retain logs for 5 years.
Why wrong: RDS is not designed for large-scale log storage and is expensive.
Question 1,055 of 1,746
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 new solution to store and analyze large amounts of log data from multiple sources. The logs must be retained for 90 days for recent analysis, and then archived to a more cost-effective storage class for an additional 5 years. The solution must support SQL-based queries. Which combination of AWS services should the company use?
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
✓
Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, and Amazon Athena for SQL queries.
Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies can automatically transition log objects from S3 Standard to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, meeting the 90-day retention for recent analysis and the 5-year archival requirement at the lowest cost. Amazon Athena allows SQL-based queries directly on the log data stored in S3, without needing to load data into a separate database, making it a serverless and cost-effective solution for ad-hoc analysis.
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.
- ✗
Amazon Redshift with data sharing to retain logs for 5 years.
Why it's wrong here
Redshift is for data warehousing, not for simple log storage.
- ✓
Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, and Amazon Athena for SQL queries.
Why this is correct
S3 is cost-effective, lifecycle policies automate archival, Athena allows SQL queries.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon OpenSearch Service with UltraWarm storage to archive logs after 90 days.
Why it's wrong here
OpenSearch does not natively support SQL and is more expensive for long-term storage.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL with automated backups to retain logs for 5 years.
Why it's wrong here
RDS is not designed for large-scale log storage and is expensive.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon OpenSearch Service's UltraWarm storage as a long-term archival solution, but it is actually a warm tier for less-frequently accessed data within the same cluster, not a cost-effective cold archive like S3 Glacier Deep Archive, and it does not support SQL queries natively.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 lifecycle policies use a combination of transition actions (e.g., to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days) and expiration actions to manage object lifecycles automatically. Athena uses Presto-based engine to execute SQL queries directly on data in S3, leveraging partitioning and columnar formats like Parquet to optimize query performance and cost. In real-world scenarios, companies often use S3 Inventory and S3 Select to further reduce scan costs when querying archived logs.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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.
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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: Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies to transition objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, and Amazon Athena for SQL queries. — Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies can automatically transition log objects from S3 Standard to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, meeting the 90-day retention for recent analysis and the 5-year archival requirement at the lowest cost. Amazon Athena allows SQL-based queries directly on the log data stored in S3, without needing to load data into a separate database, making it a serverless and cost-effective solution for ad-hoc analysis.
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
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.
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