AWS Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 Practice Question

The correct answer is Amazon S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval. This storage class is designed for long-term archival of data that is accessed infrequently and where retrieval times of minutes to hours are acceptable. Its standard retrieval option takes 3-5 hours, which aligns perfectly with the company's requirement to retrieve data "within a few hours" while minimizing cost.

• Amazon S3 Standard is incorrect because it is designed for frequently accessed data and has the highest storage cost.
• Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) is incorrect because while it is for infrequently accessed data, it provides millisecond retrieval. The company is willing to wait a few hours to achieve greater cost savings, making S3 Standard-IA not the most cost-optimal choice.
• Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive is incorrect because it is designed for the lowest-cost, long-term archival where data is rarely accessed. Its retrieval time is 12 hours or more, which does not meet the requirement of retrieval within a few hours.