SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  S3 Glacier Deep Archive

  Why this is correct

  S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the correct choice for 7-year security log retention because it provides the lowest storage cost of any S3 storage class, designed specifically for long-term, rarely accessed archival data. It offers 99.999999999% durability across multiple Availability Zones and a standard retrieval time of 12 hours, which is acceptable for compliance-oriented logs that are seldom retrieved. The one-time retrieval fee and minimum 180-day storage period are outweighed by the dramatic per-GB savings over the full 7-year cycle.

• ✗

  S3 Standard

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 Standard is designed for frequently accessed data with high throughput and low latency. Storing 7 years of security logs in Standard would incur significantly higher per-GB storage fees than archival tiers without providing any retrieval benefit, since the logs are not accessed regularly. Additionally, Standard has no minimum storage duration but also no cost-reducing mechanism for dormant data, making it the most expensive option over a long retention period.

• ✗

  S3 One Zone-IA

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 One Zone-IA is meant for infrequently accessed data in a single Availability Zone, offering cost savings compared to Standard but with less durability (99.999999999% is reduced to 99.99% object durability). For compliance logs that must be retained for 7 years, this loses redundancy and does not meet typical regulatory requirements. Moreover, its per-GB storage price is still materially higher than Glacier Deep Archive, and it lacks the deep archive lifecycle that would minimize costs over such a long horizon.

• ✗

  S3 Intelligent-Tiering

  Why it's wrong here

  S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers to optimize costs based on changing patterns, but it charges a monthly monitoring and automation fee per object. For known, stable, low-access security logs retained 7 years, that per-object fee adds avoidable overhead that directly makes it more expensive than a static archival class. Although Intelligent-Tiering can eventually guide data toward archive tiers, it does so under its own cost model, and for predictable retention, directly selecting Glacier Deep Archive avoids the extra fees while achieving the same archive outcome.

Go deeper

Related to this question