Question #1269
A company needs to analyze structured log files stored in an Amazon S3 bucket using standard SQL syntax without provisioning or managing any database servers. Which AWS service should the company use to fulfill this requirement?
AWS Glue
Amazon Athena
AWS Lambda
Amazon Kinesis
Explanation
Amazon Athena is a serverless interactive query service that enables analysis of data directly stored in Amazon S3 using standard SQL. It requires no infrastructure setup, aligning with the requirement to avoid provisioning/managing databases.
- Why B is correct: Athena is purpose-built for SQL-based analysis on S3 data, with no servers to manage.
- Why A is incorrect: AWS Glue is an ETL service for data preparation, not direct SQL querying.
- Why C is incorrect: Lambda executes code but does not natively support SQL queries without additional services.
- Why D is incorrect: Kinesis handles real-time streaming data, not static S3 log analysis.
Key Points: Athena uses SQL on S3 data, is serverless, and requires no infrastructure management. Remember: Athena for ad-hoc S3 SQL queries; Glue for ETL workflows; Lambda for event-driven tasks; Kinesis for real-time streams.
Answer
The correct answer is: B