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SAA-C03 · Question #657

A solutions architect is deploying a company's application to Amazon EC2 instances. The application generates gigabytes of data files each day. The files are rarely accessed, but the files must be ava

The correct answer is A. Store the files in an Amazon S3 bucket. Use the S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class.. The files are rarely accessed but must be retrievable within minutes for the first year, and retained for 7 years total. Storing them in Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval during the first year gives low-cost storage with millisecond retrieval, easily meeting the “within minutes

Submitted by chiamaka_o· Mar 4, 2026Design Cost-Optimized Architectures

Question

A solutions architect is deploying a company’s application to Amazon EC2 instances. The application generates gigabytes of data files each day. The files are rarely accessed, but the files must be available to the application’s users within minutes of a request during the first year of storage. The company must retain the files for 7 years. How can the solutions architect implement the application to meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?

Options

  • AStore the files in an Amazon S3 bucket. Use the S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval storage class.
  • BStore the files in an Amazon S3 bucket. Use the S3 Standard storage class. Create an S3
  • CStore the files on an Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volume. Use Amazon Data
  • DStore the files on an Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) mount. Configure EFS lifecycle

How the community answered

(23 responses)
  • A
    78% (18)
  • B
    4% (1)
  • C
    4% (1)
  • D
    13% (3)

Explanation

The files are rarely accessed but must be retrievable within minutes for the first year, and retained for 7 years total. Storing them in Amazon S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval during the first year gives low-cost storage with millisecond retrieval, easily meeting the “within minutes” requirement. After 1 year, the requirement for fast access no longer applies, so an S3 Lifecycle policy can transition the objects to S3 Glacier Deep Archive, which is much cheaper for long-term retention. This combination meets performance and retention needs with the lowest overall storage cost among

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