[NEW] AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate [2026] Detailed Exam Domain Coverage

To ensure you are fully prepared for the AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01) exam, this practice test course meticulously covers the official exam blueprint:

Domain 1: Data Ingestion and Transformation (34%)
- Evaluating throughput and latency characteristics for AWS ingestion services.
- Designing streaming and batch data ingestion patterns.
- Performing SQL queries to transform data (e.g., Redshift stored procedures).
- Deploying serverless pipelines using AWS SAM, Lambda, and Step Functions.
- Using Git for version‑control of pipeline code.
Domain 2: Data Store Management (26%)
- Understanding characteristics of storage platforms and AWS storage services.
- Choosing appropriate data storage formats (CSV, Parquet, ORC, etc.).
- Configuring storage services for specific performance demands.
- Integrating data stores with pipelines (AWS Glue, Amazon EMR).
- Logging and analyzing data using CloudWatch Logs, Athena, and OpenSearch.
Domain 3: Data Operations and Support (22%)
- Monitoring and troubleshooting data pipelines with CloudWatch.
- Automating workflow orchestration using Step Functions and managed Apache Airflow (MWAA).
- Implementing data quality checks and profiling using tools like Glue DataBrew.
- Scaling and cost‑optimizing data processing jobs.
- Managing operational tasks such as retry logic and error handling.
Domain 4: Data Security and Governance (18%)
- Applying data encryption at rest and in transit across the data lake.
- Implementing fine‑grained access controls with IAM policies and Lake Formation.
- Ensuring compliance with governance, privacy, and regulatory standards.
- Audit logging and monitoring of data access events using CloudTrail.
- Applying data governance best practices such as data cataloging.

Course Description

When preparing for the AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate exam, reading whitepapers and watching videos only gets you so far. To actually pass, you need to train your brain to parse scenario-based questions, identify distractors, and understand the deep architectural "why" behind every correct answer.

I designed these practice tests to mirror the difficulty, format, and exact domain weighting of the real DEA-C01 exam. I've spent years building data pipelines, troubleshooting ETL bottlenecks, and securing data lakes on AWS. I poured that hands-on experience into creating original questions that test your practical knowledge, not just your ability to memorize documentation.

If you are struggling with when to choose Kinesis over Managed Kafka, how to optimize Athena queries using Parquet and partitioning, or the nuances of Lake Formation access controls, these mock exams will highlight those gaps before test day.

Every single question includes a comprehensive explanation. I don't just tell you which option is correct; I break down exactly why the right answer works and why every incorrect option represents a flawed architectural choice or an anti-pattern. This turns every mistake you make during practice into a targeted learning opportunity.

Practice Questions Preview

Below is a sample of the type of rigorous, scenario-based questions you will find inside the course.

Question 1: Data Ingestion and Transformation You are architecting a batch data ingestion pipeline. You need to read raw CSV files from Amazon S3, transform the data using a serverless Apache Spark environment, and load the processed data into Amazon Redshift. Which combination of actions should you take to build this pipeline with minimal infrastructure management? (Select TWO.)

Options:
- A. Deploy an Amazon EMR cluster with persistent EC2 instances to run the Spark jobs.
- B. Use AWS Glue to catalog the S3 data and run serverless Spark ETL jobs.
- C. Configure Amazon EventBridge to trigger an AWS Lambda function that starts the transformation job when a new file arrives.
- D. Use Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics to perform real-time SQL transformations on the CSV files.
- E. Store the transformed data temporarily in Amazon EBS volumes before loading it into Redshift.
- F. Use AWS Step Functions to orchestrate long-running Amazon EC2 instances for data processing.
Correct Answer: B, C
Overall Explanation: AWS Glue provides a fully managed, serverless Spark environment ideal for transforming data without managing infrastructure. EventBridge and Lambda are the standard serverless tools for building event-driven architectures that react to S3 object creation.
Detailed Option Breakdown:
- A is incorrect: EMR on EC2 requires managing servers, which violates the requirement for minimal infrastructure management.
- B is correct: AWS Glue provides the requested serverless Apache Spark environment and natively integrates with S3 and Redshift.
- C is correct: EventBridge can detect S3 object creation events and trigger a Lambda function to start the Glue job automatically.
- D is incorrect: Kinesis Data Analytics (now Managed Service for Apache Flink) is designed for real-time streaming data, not batch CSV processing.
- E is incorrect: EBS volumes are block storage attached to EC2 instances. They are not appropriate for staging serverless ETL outputs.
- F is incorrect: EC2 instances require OS and infrastructure management, contradicting the scenario's constraints.

Question 2: Data Store Management A data engineer is designing a storage layer in Amazon S3 for an analytics workload queried heavily by Amazon Athena. The queries usually aggregate specific columns over massive datasets. Which data storage formats and configurations will optimize query performance and reduce cost? (Select TWO.)

Options:
- A. Store the data in uncompressed CSV format to ensure human readability.
- B. Convert the data to Apache Parquet format.
- C. Store the data as JSON documents for maximum schema flexibility.
- D. Partition the data in Amazon S3 by frequently filtered columns, such as date or region.
- E. Encrypt the S3 bucket using AWS KMS customer managed keys to improve Athena read speeds.
- F. Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering to speed up Athena scanning capabilities.
Correct Answer: B, D
Overall Explanation: Amazon Athena charges based on the amount of data scanned. Using columnar formats like Parquet and partitioning data drastically reduces the data scanned, improving both speed and cost.
Detailed Option Breakdown:
- A is incorrect: CSV is a row-based, uncompressed format. Athena would have to scan the entire file even if querying only one column, drastically increasing costs.
- B is correct: Parquet is a columnar format. Athena can read only the columns required by the query, bypassing the rest of the data.
- C is incorrect: JSON is inefficient for large-scale analytical queries compared to columnar formats.
- D is correct: Partitioning allows Athena to ignore entire folders of data in S3 that don't match the query's WHERE clause, optimizing both cost and speed.
- E is incorrect: KMS encryption improves security but does not enhance Athena's read performance.
- F is incorrect: S3 Intelligent-Tiering optimizes storage costs based on access patterns; it does not accelerate Athena's scanning speed.

Question 3: Data Security and Governance Your team manages a data pipeline that uses AWS Glue to process sensitive financial records. You must ensure fine-grained access control so only specific IAM roles can view certain tables and columns. Which approach meets these data security and governance requirements with the least operational overhead? (Select TWO.)

Options:
- A. Configure AWS Lake Formation to manage fine-grained column-level and row-level access controls.
- B. Disable TLS on the AWS Glue connections to reduce processing latency, relying only on at-rest encryption.
- C. Enable AWS KMS encryption for the AWS Glue Data Catalog and the underlying S3 buckets.
- D. Grant the AdministratorAccess IAM policy to the AWS Glue service role to prevent permission errors during runtime.
- E. Store all data in Amazon DynamoDB and use S3 bucket policies to restrict row-level access.
- F. Use Amazon CloudFront to secure the data transfer between AWS Glue and Amazon S3.
Correct Answer: A, C
Overall Explanation: Securing a data lake requires both robust encryption (at rest and in transit) and fine-grained authorization. AWS Lake Formation acts as the centralized governance layer over the Glue Data Catalog and S3.
Detailed Option Breakdown:
- A is correct: AWS Lake Formation is specifically designed to provide centralized, fine-grained access control (including row and column level) over data stored in S3 and cataloged in Glue.
- B is incorrect: Disabling TLS violates the requirement to encrypt data in transit and is a severe security vulnerability.
- C is correct: Utilizing AWS KMS ensures the data is properly encrypted at rest, fulfilling the compliance requirement.
- D is incorrect: Granting AdministratorAccess violates the principle of least privilege.
- E is incorrect: You cannot use S3 bucket policies to control row-level access in DynamoDB. These are entirely separate services.
- F is incorrect: CloudFront is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for serving web content to end users. It is not used for internal data transfers between Glue and S3.

Why Choose This Course?

Welcome to the Mock Exam Practice Tests Academy to help you prepare for your AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate exam.
You can retake the exams as many times as you want
This is a huge original question bank
You get support from me if you have questions
Each question has a detailed explanation
Mobile-compatible with the Udemy app

I hope that by now you're convinced! And there are a lot more questions inside the course.