Orchestrating AWS Lambda and Glue with Least Overhead
Short answer
A Use an AWS Step Functions workflow to orchestrate the Lambda function and AWS Glue job with no infrastructure management.
Question
Key Takeaways
The core trap is choosing self-managed tools like Airflow on EC2/EKS or assuming Glue can natively trigger Lambda without external orchestration.
This question tests the selection of the optimal orchestration service for mixed AWS workloads. Step Functions provides a serverless, managed workflow to coordinate Lambda and Glue with minimal operational overhead.
Common mistake: Candidates often select C (AWS Glue workflow) believing it handles all AWS tasks, but Glue workflows are designed specifically for Glue jobs and Data Catalogs, not Lambda functions.
Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
AWS Step Functions is the ideal choice because it is a fully managed serverless orchestration service designed to coordinate components of distributed applications using visual workflows. It has native integration with both AWS Lambda and AWS Glue, allowing you to define a state machine that triggers the Lambda function and then the Glue job without provisioning any underlying infrastructure. This approach directly satisfies the requirement for 'least management overhead' by eliminating the need to manage servers, scaling, or high availability.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Options B and D involve deploying Apache Airflow on EC2 or EKS. While Airflow is powerful, managing the underlying compute resources (EC2 instances or Kubernetes clusters) introduces significant operational overhead for patching, scaling, and maintenance, violating the 'least management' constraint. Option C suggests using an AWS Glue workflow; however, Glue Workflows are strictly limited to orchestrating AWS Glue jobs, crawlers, and triggers. They do not support invoking AWS Lambda functions as steps in the workflow, making this option technically invalid for the stated requirements.
Community Comment Notes
The community consensus strongly favors Option A, with users noting that Step Functions is the standard 'managed service' for building serverless workflows. Comments highlight that Airflow requires additional effort to maintain infrastructure, while others correctly point out that Glue workflows lack direct integration with Lambda. As one user noted, "Step Functions is a managed service... This eliminates the need to manage and maintain your own workflow orchestration server." Another emphasized that "Glue workflows do not have a direct integration with lambda," confirming the technical limitation of Option C.
Exam Strategy
Always prioritize fully managed, serverless orchestration services (like Step Functions) when the exam asks for 'least management overhead' or 'serverless' solutions involving multiple AWS services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AWS Glue Workflow run Lambda functions?
Is Airflow better than Step Functions for AWS data pipelines?
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Discussion 6 contributions
Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.
From public community threads 6
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pypelyncar 👍 6 Answered AStep Functions is a managed service for building serverless workflows. You define a state machine that orchestrates the execution sequence. This eliminates the need to manage and maintain your own workflow orchestration server like Airflow.
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rralucard_ 👍 4 Answered AOption A, using AWS Step Functions, is the best solution to meet the requirement with the least management overhead. Step Functions is designed for easy integration with AWS services like Lambda and Glue, providing a managed, low-code approach to orchestrate workflows. This allows for a more straightforward setup and less ongoing management compared to the other options.
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hnk 👍 4 Answered AB and D require additional effort C Glue workflows do not have a direct integration with lambda hence the best choice is A
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hcong 👍 3 Answered CAWS Glue is a fully managed ETL (extract, transform, load) service that makes it easy to orchestrate data pipelines. Using the AWS Glue workflow to run Lambda functions and glue jobs is the easiest and least expensive option because it's a fully managed service that requires no additional workflow tools or infrastructure to configure and manage. Other options require additional tools or resources to configure and manage, and are therefore more expensive to manage.
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FuriouZ 👍 3 Answered AKey word orchestrating is most likely step functions
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tgv 👍 2 Answered AStep Functions can handle both Lambda and Glue in this scenario, making it the best choice.
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