- A
Manually move the objects to S3 One Zone-IA.
Why wrong: One Zone-IA is cost-effective but not the lowest-cost option. Glacier Deep Archive offers significantly lower storage costs for long-lived data.
- B
Create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition objects older than 90 days to S3 Glacier Deep Archive.
Correct. A lifecycle rule can automatically transition objects to Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, reducing cost while retaining data for compliance.
- C
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering.
Why wrong: Intelligent-Tiering moves objects between access tiers based on usage, but it does not automatically move to Glacier Deep Archive; it also incurs monitoring costs.
- D
Enable S3 Versioning and create a lifecycle rule to delete old versions.
Why wrong: Versioning protects against deletions but does not reduce storage costs for the current objects. Deleting old versions could help, but the existing objects remain in the current storage class.
Quick Answer
The correct action is to create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition objects older than 90 days to S3 Glacier Deep Archive. This is the right choice because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class available, purpose-built for long-term retention of data that is accessed rarely, making it ideal for compliance-driven archiving where retrieval latency of 12 hours is acceptable. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of S3 lifecycle policies and storage class cost hierarchies, with a common trap being the selection of S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval or S3 Standard-IA, which are more expensive for long-term, infrequently accessed data. Remember that for compliance retention beyond 90 days with minimal access, always look for the deepest archive tier. A useful memory tip: "90 days deep" — if objects are untouched for a quarter, send them to Deep Archive for the cheapest compliance sleep.
SOA-C02 Cost and Performance Optimization Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cost and performance optimization. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 SysOps administrator notices that some Amazon S3 objects have not been accessed for over 90 days and need to be retained for compliance purposes. The administrator wants to reduce storage costs by moving these objects to the lowest-cost storage class. Which action should the administrator take?
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
Create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition objects older than 90 days to S3 Glacier Deep Archive.
Option B is correct because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class in Amazon S3, designed for long-term retention of data that is accessed infrequently. An S3 lifecycle rule can automatically transition objects older than 90 days to this class, reducing costs without manual intervention. This meets the compliance requirement to retain the objects while optimizing storage expenditure.
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.
- ✗
Manually move the objects to S3 One Zone-IA.
Why it's wrong here
One Zone-IA is cost-effective but not the lowest-cost option. Glacier Deep Archive offers significantly lower storage costs for long-lived data.
- ✓
Create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition objects older than 90 days to S3 Glacier Deep Archive.
Why this is correct
Correct. A lifecycle rule can automatically transition objects to Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days, reducing cost while retaining data for compliance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering.
Why it's wrong here
Intelligent-Tiering moves objects between access tiers based on usage, but it does not automatically move to Glacier Deep Archive; it also incurs monitoring costs.
- ✗
Enable S3 Versioning and create a lifecycle rule to delete old versions.
Why it's wrong here
Versioning protects against deletions but does not reduce storage costs for the current objects. Deleting old versions could help, but the existing objects remain in the current storage class.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'lowest-cost storage class' with S3 One Zone-IA or S3 Intelligent-Tiering, not realizing that S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the cheapest option for long-term archival data, and that lifecycle rules automate the transition without manual effort.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 Glacier Deep Archive has a retrieval time of 12 hours and a minimum storage duration of 180 days, making it ideal for compliance data that is rarely accessed. Lifecycle policies use the 'Transition' action with a 'Days' parameter to move objects based on age, and the policy can be applied to a bucket, prefix, or object tag. In real-world scenarios, combining lifecycle rules with S3 Object Lock can prevent premature deletion while still transitioning to lower-cost tiers.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Cost and Performance Optimization — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Cost and Performance Optimization practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All SOA-C02 questions
1,546 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
SOA-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related SOA-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation.
Reliability and Business Continuity practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Reliability and Business Continuity.
Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation.
Security and Compliance practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Security and Compliance.
Networking and Content Delivery practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Networking and Content Delivery.
Cost and Performance Optimization practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to Cost and Performance Optimization.
SOA-C02 fundamentals practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to SOA-C02 fundamentals.
SOA-C02 scenario practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to SOA-C02 scenario.
SOA-C02 troubleshooting practice questions
Practise SOA-C02 questions linked to SOA-C02 troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Start a free SOA-C02 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Cost and Performance Optimization — This question tests Cost and Performance Optimization — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an S3 lifecycle rule to transition objects older than 90 days to S3 Glacier Deep Archive. — Option B is correct because S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class in Amazon S3, designed for long-term retention of data that is accessed infrequently. An S3 lifecycle rule can automatically transition objects older than 90 days to this class, reducing costs without manual intervention. This meets the compliance requirement to retain the objects while optimizing storage expenditure.
What should I do if I get this SOA-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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
More SOA-C02 practice questions
- A company uses an Amazon DynamoDB table with on-demand capacity mode. The table handles a workload with a steady baselin…
- A company uses Amazon CloudWatch Logs to store application logs. The SysOps administrator needs to count the occurrences…
- A SysOps administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an Amazon EC2 instance and send an alert when it exceeds…
- A SysOps administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an Amazon EC2 instance fleet and send an alert when the a…
- A company's security policy requires that all Amazon S3 buckets must have server-side encryption enabled. The SysOps adm…
- A SysOps administrator uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy a stack that includes an Amazon EC2 instance. The administrator…
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SOA-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 SOA-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.