AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 849

A company needs to optimize its Amazon S3 storage costs for an application that generates many files that cannot be recreated. Each file is approximately 5 MB and is stored in Amazon S3 Standard storage.

The company must store the files for 4 years before the files can be deleted. The files must be immediately accessible. The files are frequently accessed in the first 30 days of object creation, but they are rarely accessed after the first 30 days.

Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?

Answer options

• A. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to move the files to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval 30 days after object creation. Delete the files 4 years after object creation.
• B. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to move the files to S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA) 30 days after object creation. Delete the files 4 years after object creation.
• C. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to move the files to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) 30 days after object creation. Delete the files 4 years after object creation.
• D. Create an S3 Lifecycle policy to move the files to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) 30 days after object creation. Move the files to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval 4 years after object creation.

Correct answer: A

Explanation

S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is the most economical storage class for infrequently accessed data that requires immediate, millisecond-level access, making Option A the most cost-effective solution. Option B is unsuitable because S3 One Zone-IA stores data in a single Availability Zone, which risks data loss for irreplaceable files. Options C and D are less cost-effective because S3 Standard-IA has higher storage pricing than S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, and the files must be deleted after 4 years rather than archived further.