Amazon Web Services Updated SAA-C03 Exam Questions and Answers by katie

AWS Snowball Edge is specifically designed for use cases that involve limited or unreliable network connectivity. It enables data transfer and local compute processing at edge locations.

It comes in two options: Snowball Edge Storage Optimized and Snowball Edge Compute Optimized.

The Compute Optimized model allows the disaster response team to both store images locally and process data on the device using Amazon EC2-compatible compute resources.

This removes the need for constant network connectivity. After processing, the device can be shipped back to AWS, where data is uploaded to S3.

Other options fail due to:

SQS not being suitable for large binary image data (Option B)

Kinesis Data Firehose needing steady connectivity (Option C)

Storage Gateway is for hybrid cloud environments with ongoing connection, not rugged field use (Option D)

???? References:

AWS Snowball Edge Overview

Snowball Edge Use Cases

The correct answer is B because the company already runs the application on Kubernetes , and the application uses AMQP to communicate with a message queue. Amazon EKS is the AWS managed Kubernetes service, so migrating the containerized workload to Amazon EKS allows the company to preserve its existing Kubernetes-based deployment model while reducing the operational burden of managing the Kubernetes control plane. This is the most straightforward migration path for a Kubernetes application and avoids the need for significant re-architecture.

The messaging requirement is equally important. Because the application specifically uses AMQP , the best AWS managed service is Amazon MQ , which supports industry-standard messaging protocols including AMQP. This means the company can migrate the application with minimal code changes and without replacing the messaging pattern already built into the application.

Option A is incorrect because Amazon SQS does not support AMQP and would require application changes. Option C is incorrect because running the application on EC2 instances creates more infrastructure management overhead than using a managed container orchestration service. Option D is incorrect because AWS Lambda is not a natural fit for an existing containerized Kubernetes application that depends on AMQP-based messaging, and SQS again does not satisfy the AMQP requirement.

AWS architectural best practices favor managed services that minimize undifferentiated operational work. Amazon EKS reduces Kubernetes control plane management, and Amazon MQ preserves protocol compatibility. Together, they provide the required scalability on AWS with the least operational overhead while supporting the company’s current architecture.

To meet the requirements, the key must support automatic rotation, and the company must be able to disable (deactivate) the key and schedule deletion. In AWS KMS, these lifecycle controls are available for customer managed keys. Automatic key rotation is supported for symmetric customer managed KMS keys used for encryption and decryption operations. When automatic rotation is enabled, AWS KMS generates new cryptographic material for the key on a regular schedule while the key ID remains the same, helping organizations meet compliance and security best practices without manual operational work.

Option C is the only choice that explicitly combines a symmetric customer managed key with automatic rotation enabled, which directly satisfies the rotation requirement. As a customer managed key, it can also be disabled (to prevent use) and scheduled for deletion (with a waiting period), meeting the rest of the lifecycle needs.

Option A is incorrect because automatic rotation is not generally available for asymmetric KMS keys in the same way; asymmetric keys are used for specialized use cases such as signing or asymmetric encryption, and rotation behavior differs. Options B and D mention “disabling envelope encryption,” which is not a configurable “option” you turn off in KMS; envelope encryption is a recommended pattern where KMS protects data keys, and services commonly use it under the hood. Those options therefore do not describe a valid configuration that meets the requirement.

Therefore, the correct solution is to create a symmetric customer managed KMS key and enable automatic rotation, while using standard KMS controls to disable and schedule deletion when required.

AWS Transfer Family (SFTP) allows clients to use standard SFTP clients and SSH keys without changes. By enabling service-managed users, clients can continue uploading files with their existing tools.

The service delivers the files directly into S3, reducing latency between upload and processing. This removes the need for EC2, custom scripts, and periodic transfers. It fully meets the requirement for a managed solution with minimal disruption to client processes.