The answer is to increase the number of DPUs allocated to the Glue job. This is the most effective approach because AWS Glue uses Data Processing Units (DPUs) as a measure of compute capacity; adding more DPUs allows the job to process data in parallel across more executors, directly reducing wall-clock time for CPU-bound or transform-heavy workloads. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of how to scale serverless ETL jobs—a common scenario where candidates mistakenly optimize storage formats or network settings instead of addressing compute bottlenecks. A frequent trap is choosing S3 Transfer Acceleration or Parquet conversion, which improve data transfer or scan efficiency but do not accelerate the job’s actual processing logic. Remember the mnemonic: “More DPUs, less time—compute is the climb.”
SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing 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 has a data pipeline that uses AWS Glue to process large datasets in Amazon S3. The pipeline runs daily and takes over 12 hours to complete. The company wants to reduce the processing time. Which approach would be MOST effective?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Increase the number of DPUs allocated to the Glue job.
Option D is correct because increasing the number of DPUs (data processing units) allocated to the Glue job can parallelize processing and reduce runtime. Option A is wrong because converting to Parquet is a good practice but does not reduce processing time if the job is CPU-bound. Option B is wrong because increasing the timeout does not speed up processing. Option C is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads, not Glue processing.
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.
✗
Increase the Glue job timeout setting to 24 hours.
Why it's wrong here
Longer timeout does not speed up processing.
✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the source bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration improves upload speed, not Glue job processing.
✓
Increase the number of DPUs allocated to the Glue job.
Why this is correct
More DPUs provide more parallelism and reduce runtime.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Convert the input data from CSV to Parquet format.
Why it's wrong here
Parquet improves read performance but may not significantly reduce processing time if the bottleneck is compute.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Increase the number of DPUs allocated to the Glue job. — Option D is correct because increasing the number of DPUs (data processing units) allocated to the Glue job can parallelize processing and reduce runtime. Option A is wrong because converting to Parquet is a good practice but does not reduce processing time if the job is CPU-bound. Option B is wrong because increasing the timeout does not speed up processing. Option C is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads, not Glue processing.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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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