Exam AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate SAA-C03 topic 1 question 250 discussion

A. suggests using CloudWatch as the target for VPC Flow Logs. However, it does not provide a mechanism for managing the retention of the logs for 90 days and then accessing them intermittently. B. suggests using Kinesis as the target for VPC Flow Logs. While it can retain the logs for 90 days, it does not address the requirement for intermittent access to the logs. C. suggests using CloudTrail as the target for VPC Flow Logs. However, CloudTrail is designed for auditing and monitoring API activity, not for capturing network traffic logs. It does not meet the requirement of capturing VPC Flow Logs. D. suggests using S3 as the target for VPC Flow Logs and leveraging S3 Lifecycle policies to transition the logs to a cost-effective storage class after 90 days. It meets the requirement of retaining the logs for 90 days and provides the flexibility for intermittent access while optimizing storage costs.

D is the correct answer.

D is the correct answer

A is correct You can change the log data retention setting for CloudWatch logs. By default, logs are kept indefinitely and never expire. You can adjust the retention policy for each log group, keeping the indefinite retention, or choosing a retention period between 10 years and one day. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/managedservices/latest/userguide/log-customize-retention.html

Use Amazon S3 as the target. Enable an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the logs to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 90 days

D. Use Amazon S3 as the target. Enable an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the logs to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 90 days.

S3 will store logs. With life cycle, we can move it to different class. With Option A, log groups expiration will simply remove the logs and failing the 2nd request in question

A doesn't solve "90 days and then accessed intermittently" this statement. It sets expire after 90. Not sure otherwise A seems to be right choice since you can create dashboards etc.

Option A meets these requirements.

There's a table here that specifies that VPC Flow logs can go directly to S3. Does not need to go via CloudTrail and then to S3. Nor via CW. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/logs/AWS-logs-and-resource-policy.html#AWS-logs-infrastructure-S3

we need to preserve logs hence D https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/logs/CloudWatchLogsConcepts.html

D...agree that retention is the key word

a is not,retantion means delete after 90 days but questions say rarely access.

D. Use Amazon S3 as the target. Enable an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the logs to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 90 days. By using Amazon S3 as the target for the VPC Flow Logs, the logs can be easily stored and accessed by the security team. Enabling an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition the logs to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 90 days will automatically move the logs to a storage class that is optimized for infrequent access, reducing the storage costs for the company. The security team will still be able to access the logs as needed, even after they have been transitioned to S3 Standard-IA, but the storage cost will be optimized.

I prefer D "accessed intermittently" need logs after 90 days

No, D should be is correct. "The logs will be frequently accessed for 90 days and then accessed intermittently." => We still need to store instead of deleting as the answer A.

D looks correct. This will meet the requirements of frequently accessing the logs for the first 90 days and then intermittently accessing them after that. S3 standard-IA is a storage class that is less expensive than S3 standard for infrequently accessed data, so it would be a more cost-effective option for storing the logs after the first 90 days.