Question

Difficulty: EasyShared Responsibility Model

A company is using Amazon DynamoDB to store application data. Under the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, which of the following tasks is the responsibility of the customer?

  1. Configuring Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies to control database accessAnswer
  2. B
    Patching the operating system of the servers running the database
  3. C
    Replacing failed physical storage drives in the AWS data centers
  4. D
    Requesting physical copies of compliance certificates directly from AWS data center security staff

Answer

Configuring Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies to control database access
Configuring Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies to control database access is the correct answer. Under the Shared Responsibility Model, the customer is always responsible for managing access to their data and configuring permissions, regardless of whether the service is managed or unmanaged.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the AWS service type in the scenario.
Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service (PaaS/Managed service).
The level of customer responsibility depends on whether the service is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) like Amazon EC2, or a managed service (PaaS) like Amazon DynamoDB.
2
Determine the boundary of responsibility for a managed database service.
AWS handles the physical security, hardware infrastructure, virtualization layer, operating system, and database engine software. The customer is responsible for data classification, encryption settings, and resource access control.
Applying the Shared Responsibility Model rules for managed services.
3
Evaluate the choices to identify the task that falls under the customer's control.
Configuring access policies using IAM is managed by the customer, whereas OS patching, hardware replacement, and physical security are managed by AWS.
Select the option that represents a customer responsibility.

Key Concept

Under the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, for managed services like Amazon DynamoDB, AWS handles the infrastructure layers including database software patching, operating system maintenance, and hardware management. The customer remains responsible for configuration tasks, such as managing access controls (IAM) and securing their data.
Estimated Time:45s
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