AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C02) — Question 198

A company stores user data in AWS. The data is used continuously with peak usage during business hours. Access patterns vary, with some data not being used for months at a time. A solutions architect must choose a cost-effective solution that maintains the highest level of durability while maintaining high availability.
Which storage solution meets these requirements?

Answer options

• A. Amazon S3 Standard
• B. Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering
• C. Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive
• D. Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA)

Correct answer: B

Explanation

The correct choice, Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering, automatically moves data between two access tiers when access patterns change, making it cost-effective for varying usage. Amazon S3 Standard is more expensive for infrequently accessed data, while S3 Glacier Deep Archive is not suitable for high availability due to its retrieval times. S3 One Zone-IA lacks the durability of Intelligent-Tiering, as it stores data in a single availability zone.