Cloud Digital Leader Google Cloud Products and Services Practice Question
A DevOps engineer wants to automatically delete a Cloud Storage object after 30 days from creation. The object is stored in a bucket with the 'Standard' storage class. Which approach should the engineer use?
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
✓
Add a lifecycle rule to delete objects after 30 days
Object Lifecycle Management rules can be configured on a bucket to delete objects based on age (days since creation). The rule sets a condition (e.g., age: 30) and action (Delete). Changing the storage class or using bucket lock does not delete objects. Object versioning is for keeping multiple versions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set a retention policy on the bucket with a 30-day retention period
Why it's wrong here
A retention policy on a bucket is designed to prevent deletions and modifications, not to initiate them. Objects under a retention period are locked and cannot be removed by any user, API, or even lifecycle rules until the period expires. Once the 30-day period ends, the policy only removes the restriction; it does not trigger an automatic deletion of the object.
- ✗
Change the storage class to 'Archive' which automatically deletes after 30 days
Why it's wrong here
The 'Archive' storage class is intended for long-term archival of data that is rarely accessed, with lower storage cost but higher retrieval fees. It has no built-in scheduling to automatically delete objects after any time period. Changing the storage class only moves the object to a different cost tier; you still need a lifecycle rule to perform an actual deletion after 30 days.
- ✗
Enable object versioning and set a noncurrent time deletion of 30 days
Why it's wrong here
Object versioning allows you to keep multiple versions of an object, and a lifecycle rule with a noncurrent time condition deletes only the versions that are not currently live. The live (current) version remains untouched and continues to exist indefinitely. Therefore, this method would never delete the current object itself, only some of its historical versions, so it fails to meet the requirement.
- ✓
Add a lifecycle rule to delete objects after 30 days
Why this is correct
A bucket lifecycle rule supports an age-based Delete action, which automatically removes objects after a specified number of days from their creation time. By setting 'age: 30' in the Delete action, Cloud Storage will delete the objects exactly at the 30-day mark during its daily lifecycle evaluation. This is the native, recommended mechanism for automatic object expiration and directly fulfills the requirement.
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud Digital Transformation
Key term
Storage class
A storage class is a category of data storage that defines how data is stored, accessed, retrieved, and billed in a cloud environment.
Key term
Cloud storage
Cloud storage is a service that lets you save data on remote servers accessed over the internet instead of on your computer's hard drive.
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