SAA-C03 practice question: S3 storage classes and lifecycle (3 of 3)
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures A free question from our original SAA-C03 practice exam. Try it, then open the answer to see why each option is right or wrong.
An insurance company stores photos of claim damage in Amazon S3, averaging 4 MB each.
For the first 30 days after a claim is opened, adjusters view its photos many times. After that, each photo is viewed about once a quarter, but when one is needed it must load within milliseconds. Photos must survive the loss of an Availability Zone, be kept for 7 years, and then be deleted.
Which lifecycle configuration is MOST cost-effective?
Choose one answer.
AA. Transition objects to S3 Standard-IA 30 days after creation, and expire them 7 years after creation.
BB. Transition objects to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval 30 days after creation, and expire them 7 years after creation.
CC. Transition objects to S3 One Zone-IA 30 days after creation, and expire them 7 years after creation.
DD. Transition objects to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 30 days, use Expedited retrievals, and expire them after 7 years.
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: B
A. Wrong: Standard-IA gives millisecond access across at least three Availability Zones, so it meets every requirement. But it is designed for data read about once a month; for data read once a quarter, Glacier Instant Retrieval gives the same access speed at a much lower storage price. Learn more: Understanding and managing Amazon S3 storage classes (opens in a new tab)
B. Right: Correct. Glacier Instant Retrieval is built for long-lived data read about once a quarter, with millisecond access across at least three Availability Zones and lower storage costs than Standard-IA. Its 90-day minimum duration and 128 KB minimum size do not matter for 4 MB photos kept for 7 years. Learn more: Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval (opens in a new tab)
D. Wrong: Glacier Flexible Retrieval costs less to store, but objects must be restored before they can be read. Even Expedited retrievals typically take 1 to 5 minutes, which is far slower than the millisecond access the adjusters need. Learn more: Understanding archive retrieval options (opens in a new tab)
Explanation
After 30 days the photos are rarely read but must still load in milliseconds and stay resilient to the loss of an Availability Zone. S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is designed for exactly this: data read about once a quarter, millisecond access, at least three zones, and storage up to 68% cheaper than Standard-IA for that access pattern. One Zone-IA fails the resilience requirement and Glacier Flexible Retrieval fails the latency requirement.
Want more on S3 storage classes and lifecycle? The 5 full-length practice sets have 10 more S3 storage classes and lifecycle questions, 325 in all, none of them in the free exam. One payment of $14.99, no subscription. See the practice sets →