PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
A company is running an SAP HANA database on an AWS EC2 instance. The system administrator needs to ensure that the database logs are automatically backed up to Amazon S3 and retained for 30 days. Which combination of AWS services can achieve this with minimal operational overhead?
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 an S3 Lifecycle Policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier after 30 days.
An S3 Lifecycle Policy can automatically transition logs to S3 Glacier after 30 days, providing a cost-effective long-term storage option with minimal operational overhead. Option A is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs stores logs in CloudWatch, not S3, and does not automatically back up database logs to S3. Option C is incorrect because S3 Standard-IA is optimized for infrequently accessed data that requires rapid access, not for archival retention; transitioning logs to Standard-IA after 30 days does not provide the cost benefits of Glacier for data that may need to be retained beyond the initial 30-day period. Option D is incorrect because AWS Backup is designed for backing up entire EC2 instances, not individual log files.
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 Amazon CloudWatch Logs with a retention policy of 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
This option uses CloudWatch Logs with a retention policy, which stores logs in CloudWatch, not S3, and does not automatically back up database logs to S3. Therefore, it does not meet the requirement.
- ✓
Use an S3 Lifecycle Policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier after 30 days.
Why this is correct
This option uses an S3 Lifecycle Policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier after 30 days. Assuming logs are already in an S3 bucket, the lifecycle policy automates the transition, meeting the retention requirement with minimal operational overhead. This is the correct answer.
- ✗
Use an S3 Lifecycle Policy to transition logs to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days.
Why it's wrong here
This option uses an S3 Lifecycle Policy to transition logs to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days. While this retains logs, it does not automatically delete them after 30 days; Standard-IA is for infrequent access, not long-term archival. It does not meet the requirement as effectively as Glacier.
- ✗
Use AWS Backup to schedule backups of the EC2 instance.
Why it's wrong here
This option uses AWS Backup to schedule backups of the EC2 instance. AWS Backup is designed for backing up entire instances, not individual log files, so it does not specifically address backing up database logs to S3.
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 |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 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 PAS-C01 exam.