AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) — Question 989

A solutions architect is designing an application that will allow business users to upload objects to Amazon S3. The solution needs to maximize object durability. Objects also must be readily available at any time and for any length of time. Users will access objects frequently within the first 30 days after the objects are uploaded, but users are much less likely to access objects that are older than 30 days.

Which solution meets these requirements MOST cost-effectively?

Answer options

• A. Store all the objects in S3 Standard with an S3 Lifecycle rule to transition the objects to S3 Glacier after 30 days.
• B. Store all the objects in S3 Standard with an S3 Lifecycle rule to transition the objects to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 30 days.
• C. Store all the objects in S3 Standard with an S3 Lifecycle rule to transition the objects to S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA) after 30 days.
• D. Store all the objects in S3 Intelligent-Tiering with an S3 Lifecycle rule to transition the objects to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 30 days.

Correct answer: B

Explanation

S3 Standard-IA is the most cost-effective storage class that maintains high durability across multiple Availability Zones and provides millisecond access for objects older than 30 days. S3 One Zone-IA does not maximize durability because it stores data in only one Availability Zone, while S3 Glacier does not support immediate, real-time retrieval. Transitioning from S3 Standard to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days perfectly matches the access patterns and availability requirements.