- A
Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table with no partitions, and query the entire dataset each time.
Why wrong: Without partitions, Athena scans all data, which is inefficient.
- B
Use AWS Glue Crawler to automatically create partitions based on the date prefix in the S3 key.
Why wrong: Date-only partitioning does not account for account or region, leading to more data scanned.
- C
Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table, then manually add partitions for each account ID and region.
Partitioning by account and region optimizes query performance for multi-account environments.
- D
Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table partitioned by log type and date.
Why wrong: Partitioning by log type and date is less effective than by account and region for typical queries.
Question 1,074 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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 has a centralized logging account that receives VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail logs, and AWS Config logs from all member accounts in AWS Organizations. The logs are stored in an S3 bucket in the logging account. Security analysts need to query these logs using Amazon Athena. What is the MOST efficient way to set up the table partitions?
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 Crawler to create a table, then manually add partitions for each account ID and region.
Option C is correct because VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, and AWS Config logs are stored in S3 with key prefixes that include account ID, region, and date (e.g., AWSLogs/{account-id}/CloudTrail/{region}/{year}/{month}/{day}/). To efficiently query these logs in Athena, partitions should be created on account ID and region to enable partition pruning, reducing the amount of data scanned. Manually adding partitions for each account ID and region ensures precise control and avoids the overhead of crawling all historical data, which is more efficient than relying solely on automatic date-based partitioning.
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 Crawler to create a table with no partitions, and query the entire dataset each time.
Why it's wrong here
Without partitions, Athena scans all data, which is inefficient.
- ✗
Use AWS Glue Crawler to automatically create partitions based on the date prefix in the S3 key.
Why it's wrong here
Date-only partitioning does not account for account or region, leading to more data scanned.
- ✓
Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table, then manually add partitions for each account ID and region.
Why this is correct
Partitioning by account and region optimizes query performance for multi-account environments.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table partitioned by log type and date.
Why it's wrong here
Partitioning by log type and date is less effective than by account and region for typical queries.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume AWS Glue Crawler can automatically create optimal partitions for multi-account log structures, but it typically only partitions on the last directory level (e.g., date), missing the account ID and region partitions that are crucial for query performance in a centralized logging setup.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Athena uses Hive-style partitioning, where partition columns are derived from S3 key prefixes (e.g., /dt=2023-01-01/). When using AWS Glue Crawler, it can infer partitions from the S3 path structure, but the crawler's default behavior is to create partitions based on the deepest subdirectory pattern, which may not align with the multi-level hierarchy of AWS logs (account > region > date). Manually adding partitions with ALTER TABLE ADD PARTITION statements allows you to define custom partition columns (e.g., account_id, region) that match the log key structure, enabling efficient partition pruning. In real-world scenarios, organizations often have hundreds of member accounts, so automating partition addition via a scheduled Lambda function or AWS Glue job is common to keep the table up to date without manual intervention.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Glue Crawler to create a table, then manually add partitions for each account ID and region. — Option C is correct because VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, and AWS Config logs are stored in S3 with key prefixes that include account ID, region, and date (e.g., AWSLogs/{account-id}/CloudTrail/{region}/{year}/{month}/{day}/). To efficiently query these logs in Athena, partitions should be created on account ID and region to enable partition pruning, reducing the amount of data scanned. Manually adding partitions for each account ID and region ensures precise control and avoids the overhead of crawling all historical data, which is more efficient than relying solely on automatic date-based partitioning.
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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