SOA-C02 Reviews Questions

Understand the Problem:

The requirement is to delete the CloudFormation stack without deleting the DynamoDB table.

Analyze the Requirements:

Ensure the DynamoDB table is preserved when the CloudFormation stack is deleted.

Evaluate the Options:

Option A: Add a Retain deletion policy to the DynamoDB resource.

The Retain policy ensures that the DynamoDB table is not deleted when the stack is deleted.

Option B: Add a Snapshot deletion policy to the DynamoDB resource.

Snapshot policy is not applicable to DynamoDB tables and would not retain the table itself.

Option C: Enable termination protection on the CloudFormation stack.

Prevents stack deletion entirely but does not specifically protect the DynamoDB table.

Option D: Update the IAM policy with a Deny statement for dynamodb:DeleteTable.

Prevents deletion of the table but is not a CloudFormation stack-specific solution.

Select the Best Solution:

Option A: Adding a Retain deletion policy to the DynamoDB resource in the CloudFormation stack ensures the table is preserved when the stack is deleted.

References:

AWS CloudFormation Deletion Policy

Using the Retain deletion policy ensures that the DynamoDB table is not deleted when the CloudFormation stack is deleted, preserving critical data.

Amazon CloudWatch Synthetics allows you to create canaries that monitor your endpoints and APIs. Canaries are scripts that run on a schedule to check your application’s availability and performance, and can detect issues before your customers do.

Create a CloudWatch Synthetics Canary:

Open the Amazon CloudWatch console at Amazon CloudWatch Console.

Navigate to Synthetics and choose Create Canary.

Use the CloudWatch Synthetics Recorder plugin to generate the script for the canary run.

Configure the Canary:

Define the schedule for the canary to run (e.g., every minute).

Specify the endpoint URL of the website.

Configure the canary to check for specific errors or issues based on your requirements.

Create Alarms:

Set up CloudWatch alarms to notify you when the canary detects issues. You can configure the alarm to send notifications via Amazon SNS.

References:

Creating and Managing Canaries

CloudWatch Synthetics

FIFO queues don't support per-message delays, only per-queue delays. If your application sets the same value of the DelaySeconds parameter on each message, you must modify your application to remove the per-message delay and set DelaySeconds on the entire queue instead.

To minimize cost while maintaining immediate retrievability for files stored in Amazon S3, you can use S3 Lifecycle policies to transition objects to different storage classes based on their access patterns. Given that files are frequently accessed in the first 30 days and rarely accessed afterward, transitioning to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days is the most cost-effective solution.

Understand S3 Storage Classes:

S3 Standard: Suitable for frequently accessed data.

S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA): Suitable for data that is less frequently accessed but requires rapid access when needed. It offers lower storage costs compared to S3 Standard but has a retrieval fee.

S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA): Similar to S3 Standard-IA but stores data in a single Availability Zone, making it less resilient.

S3 Glacier: Suitable for archival storage where data retrieval time is not critical (minutes to hours).

Requirements and Solution:

Access Pattern: Frequent access in the first 30 days, rare access afterward.

Retrievability: Immediate access required for one year.

Cost Efficiency: Minimize storage costs after the first 30 days.

Implementing Lifecycle Policy:

Lifecycle Policy: Configure a lifecycle policy to transition objects to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days.

Step-by-Step Implementation:

Login to AWS Management Console:

Open the Amazon S3 console at Amazon S3 Console.

Navigate to the Bucket:

Select the bucket where the files are stored.

Configure Lifecycle Policy:

Go to the Management tab.

Choose Lifecycle and then + Add lifecycle rule.

Enter a rule name and scope (e.g., apply to all objects in the bucket or specific prefixes).

Under Lifecycle rule actions, choose Transition current versions of objects between storage classes.

Add a transition:

Days after object creation: 30

Storage class: S3 Standard-IA

Optionally, add expiration actions if objects should be deleted after a certain period.

Review and Save:

Review the configuration and save the lifecycle rule.

References:

Amazon S3 Storage Classes

Lifecycle Configuration Elements

Transitioning Objects Using Amazon S3 Lifecycle