AWS Certified Database – Specialty — Question 78

A database specialist is building a system that uses a static vendor dataset of postal codes and related territory information that is less than 1 GB in size. The dataset is loaded into the application's cache at start up. The company needs to store this data in a way that provides the lowest cost with a low application startup time.
Which approach will meet these requirements?

Answer options

• A. Use an Amazon RDS DB instance. Shut down the instance once the data has been read.
• B. Use Amazon Aurora Serverless. Allow the service to spin resources up and down, as needed.
• C. Use Amazon DynamoDB in on-demand capacity mode.
• D. Use Amazon S3 and load the data from flat files.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

Using Amazon S3 to load data from flat files (option D) is the most cost-effective solution for storing a static dataset under 1 GB, as it incurs minimal storage costs and allows for quick access during application startup. In contrast, Amazon RDS (option A) and Amazon Aurora Serverless (option B) involve unnecessary operational costs for such a small dataset, and while DynamoDB (option C) can be efficient, it may not be the most economical choice for static data storage.