AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 635

A company runs an SMB file server in its data center. The file server stores large files that the company frequently accesses for up to 7 days after the file creation date. After 7 days, the company needs to be able to access the files with a maximum retrieval time of 24 hours.

Which solution will meet these requirements?

Answer options

• A. Use AWS DataSync to copy data that is older than 7 days from the SMB file server to AWS.
• B. Create an Amazon S3 File Gateway to increase the company's storage space. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the data to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 7 days.
• C. Create an Amazon FSx File Gateway to increase the company's storage space. Create an Amazon S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the data after 7 days.
• D. Configure access to Amazon S3 for each user. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the data to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 7 days.

Correct answer: B

Explanation

Amazon S3 File Gateway allows local caching of frequently accessed SMB files, providing low-latency access during the first 7 days. Transitioning the older files to S3 Glacier Deep Archive via an S3 Lifecycle policy is highly cost-effective and meets the 24-hour retrieval SLA, as standard retrieval from Glacier Deep Archive takes up to 12 hours. The other options either require complex client-side configurations, do not integrate seamlessly with the SMB protocol, or fail to utilize the most cost-effective storage tier.