SAA-C03 Exam Dumps : AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03)

AmazonS3 with the Standard storage classis the best solution:

Encryption: SSE-S3 ensures server-side encryption of the data, meeting compliance requirements.

Immediate access: The Standard storage class provides low-latency and high-throughput access to data.

Multi-location storage: Cross-Region replication ensures data is stored in multiple AWS Regions for redundancy.

Why Other Options Are Not Ideal:

Option B:

Amazon EFS is more costly and suited for file systems rather than object storage.Not cost-effective.

Option C:

Amazon EBS is block storage and not optimized for object storage like PDFs. Backup schedules do not ensure immediate availability.Not suitable.

Option D:

S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval is designed for archival, not immediate access.Does not meet access requirements.

AWS References:

Amazon S3 Standard Storage:AWS Documentation - S3 Storage Classes

Amazon S3 Cross-Region Replication:AWS Documentation - Cross-Region Replication

AWS Encryption Options:AWS Documentation - S3 Encryption

For bursty and seasonal workloads, AWS recommends serverless architectures using Amazon API Gateway + AWS Lambda:

API Gateway exposes a fully managed, scalable API endpoint.

Lambda provides automatic scaling based on request volume, with no need to provision or manage servers.

This is ideal for workloads with variable or seasonal demand, such as end-of-year tax computation bursts.

This combination minimizes operational overhead (no OS patching, no capacity planning) while scaling seamlessly to meet peak demand.

Options A, C, and D rely on EC2 instances. They require capacity planning, scaling configuration, and ongoing management. They do not scale as effortlessly as Lambda for unpredictable or highly seasonal workloads.

Creating a manual copy of the automated snapshot is the most operationally efficient option because it directly meets the requirement—retain a specific snapshot beyond the automated retention window—with the least added process and tooling. In Amazon RDS, automated backups and their snapshots are retained only for the configured backup retention period (up to the service maximum). When that retention period is exceeded, older automated snapshots are removed automatically. However, manual snapshots are retained until you explicitly delete them, so converting (copying) an automated snapshot to a manual snapshot is the standard operational approach to keep a point-in-time backup for long-term retention.

Option C is incorrect because you cannot extend automated snapshot retention beyond the maximum supported retention; also, setting “45 days” may still be within or beyond the service limits depending on the engine and configuration, and it doesn’t guarantee indefinite retention. Option B (export to S3) is not the most operationally efficient for the stated goal: exporting is a different workflow (often used for analytics, archiving in open formats, or cross-tool usage) and introduces extra steps, format considerations, and ongoing management in S3. Option D is also heavier operationally: native SQL Server backups require managing backup jobs, storage layout, restores, and permissions, and it shifts responsibility to the customer for operational correctness.

Therefore, A is the simplest and most AWS-native way to preserve an RDS snapshot long-term with minimal operational overhead.