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SAA-C03 - Design Cost-Optimized Architectures - Section 4.1

Design cost-optimised object storage using S3 storage classes, lifecycle policies and S3 Intelligent-Tiering.

Compare S3 storage classes - Standard, Standard-IA, One Zone-IA, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, Glacier Flexible Retrieval, and Glacier Deep Archive - on cost, retrieval latency, and minimum storage duration. Configure S3 Lifecycle policies to automatically transition objects between classes or expire them, and use S3 Intelligent-Tiering for objects with unknown or changing access patterns to avoid manual tier management.

S3 storage classesS3 Lifecycle policiesS3 Intelligent-TieringS3 Glacier

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleDesign Cost-Optimized Architecturesmedium

A research firm stores datasets in Amazon S3 where access is unpredictable: some datasets are read daily for months, while others go completely untouched for over a year and may never be read again. The team already uses S3 Intelligent-Tiering for automatic frequent and infrequent movement, but wants the deeply cold datasets to also reach archive-level storage rates automatically, with no separate lifecycle rule and minimal operational change. Which configuration meets this with the least operational overhead?

  • AEnable the optional Archive Access and Deep Archive Access tiers within the existing S3 Intelligent-Tiering configuration so untouched objects move to archive rates automatically. Correct
  • BAdd a separate lifecycle rule that transitions objects from S3 Intelligent-Tiering to S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval after 180 days, running alongside the existing Intelligent-Tiering configuration.
  • CReplace S3 Intelligent-Tiering with S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access for the cold datasets to obtain a lower storage rate while accepting that the data sits in a single Availability Zone.
  • DTurn on S3 Storage Lens recommendations so it analyses the buckets and automatically relocates cold datasets into S3 Glacier Deep Archive on the team's behalf.
Use the optional Archive Access and Deep Archive Access tiers inside S3 Intelligent-Tiering to reach archive rates automatically without a separate lifecycle rule. S3 Intelligent-Tiering includes two optional asynchronous tiers, Archive Access and Deep Archive Access, that the bucket owner can enable so objects not accessed for a configured number of days drop to Glacier-equivalent storage rates. Because this is part of the same Intelligent-Tiering class and needs no separate lifecycle policy, it meets the requirement with the least operational overhead. An object that has dropped to an archive tier requires an asynchronous RestoreObject request before it can be read, unlike the frequent and infrequent tiers which are retrieved transparently.

Why A is correct: Intelligent-Tiering can be configured with optional Archive Access and Deep Archive Access tiers, so objects untouched for a set period drop to archive rates automatically within the same class and no extra lifecycle rule.

Why B is wrong: Tempting because it reaches archive rates, but it adds a second rule the team wanted to avoid and moves objects out of Intelligent-Tiering, so they no longer tier automatically within the class.

Why C is wrong: Tempting on price, but One Zone-IA is a fixed class with retrieval fees and reduced availability, and it cannot automatically promote objects back to frequent access when reads resume.

Why D is wrong: Tempting because Storage Lens reports cold data, but it only provides metrics and recommendations and never moves objects between storage classes by itself.

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