AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C02) — Question 119

A company is using a tape backup solution to store its key application data offsite. The daily data volume is around 50 TB. The company needs to retain the backups for 7 years for regulatory purposes. The backups are rarely accessed, and a week's notice is typically given if a backup needs to be restored.
The company is now considering a cloud-based option to reduce the storage costs and operational burden of managing tapes. The company also wants to make sure that the transition from tape backups to the cloud minimizes disruptions.
Which storage solution is MOST cost-effective?

Answer options

• A. Use Amazon Storage Gateway to back up to Amazon Glacier Deep Archive.
• B. Use AWS Snowball Edge to directly integrate the backups with Amazon S3 Glacier.
• C. Copy the backup data to Amazon S3 and create a lifecycle policy to move the data to Amazon S3 Glacier.
• D. Use Amazon Storage Gateway to back up to Amazon S3 and create a lifecycle policy to move the backup to Amazon S3 Glacier.

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is A because Amazon Glacier Deep Archive is the most cost-effective option for long-term storage of rarely accessed data, aligning with the company's need to retain backups for 7 years. Options B, C, and D are not as cost-effective due to higher storage costs associated with direct integration and less optimal lifecycle policies.