AWS Outposts for Local Data Compliance

SAA-C03 By islever Editorial Last updated Oct 14, 2026

Design secure workloads and applications.

Short answer

C Install an AWS Outposts rack in the company's data center to extend AWS managed services locally while maintaining data residency.

Question

A company runs containers in a Kubernetes environment in the company's local data center. The company wants to use Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) and other AWS managed services. Data must remain locally in the company's data center and cannot be stored in any remote site or cloud to maintain compliance. Which solution will meet these requirements?

Deploy AWS Local Zones in the company's data center.
Use an AWS Snowmobile in the company's data center.
Install an AWS Outposts rack in the company's data center. Correct Answer
Install an AWS Snowball Edge Storage Optimized node in the data center.

Key Takeaways

Tests the distinction between hybrid cloud extensions (Outposts) and data transfer devices (Snowball), highlighting that Outposts allows running live workloads locally.

AWS Outposts extends AWS infrastructure to on-premises data centers, enabling local data residency while using managed services like EKS. This solution ensures compliance by keeping data within the company's physical premises.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse Snowball Edge with Outposts or select Local Zones, failing to recognize that Snowball is primarily for migration and Local Zones are remote edge locations, not inside the customer's data center.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

AWS Outposts is a fully managed service that extends AWS infrastructure, services, APIs, and tools to virtually any data center, co-location environment, or on-premises facility. By installing an Outposts rack in the company's local data center, the organization can run Amazon EKS and other AWS managed services natively on-site. This architecture ensures that data remains physically located in the company's data center, satisfying strict compliance requirements that prohibit storing data in remote AWS regions.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option A, AWS Local Zones, places compute and storage resources closer to end-users but still within AWS-managed facilities, meaning data does not stay in the company's private data center. Option B, AWS Snowmobile, is a transportation device used for exabyte-scale data transfers to the cloud, not for running persistent workloads like Kubernetes. Option D, Snowball Edge, is a ruggedized device for data transfer and local compute, but it is not designed as a long-term, integrated extension of the AWS control plane for running managed EKS clusters in the same seamless way Outposts does; Outposts is the standard solution for 'hybrid' managed services.

Community Comment Notes

The community consensus strongly favors Option C. As Mikado211 noted, "Outpost is a service where AWS has physical servers in your datacenter." Scheldon reinforced this by stating, "AWS Outpost = Bring AWS cloud to your DataCentre." JonJon03 correctly identified that while EKS on Snowball might be technically possible in niche cases, Outposts is the intended answer for extending managed services like EKS into the data center.

Exam Strategy

When a question requires running AWS managed services (like EKS, RDS) in a specific on-premises location for compliance or latency, always look for AWS Outposts first. It is the only service that provides a consistent AWS experience directly inside your own data center.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use AWS Snowball Edge for EKS?

While Snowball Edge supports container workloads, it is not a long-term, managed extension of AWS like Outposts. Outposts is the standard for running managed EKS clusters on-premises.

What is the difference between Local Zones and Outposts?

Local Zones are in AWS facilities near users, whereas Outposts are racks installed inside the customer's own data center, providing full control over physical data location.

More SAA-C03 FAQ →

Community Votes

100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer C. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 7 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 7

Mikado211 👍 8 Answered C

Outpost is a service where AWS has physical servers in your datacenter. C
Scheldon 👍 4 Answered C

AnswerC AWS Outpost = Bring AWS cloud to your DataCentre, which we need in described scenario
JonJon03 👍 2

EKS on SnowBALL could be an option. EKS on SnowMOBILE isn't as it's used for data transfer mostly.
mk168898 👍 2

Data must remain locally in the company's data center => AWS outpost
LeonSauveterre 👍 1 Answered C

A - AWS Local Zones provide low-latency access to AWS services by placing AWS infrastructure closer to customers, but the data is still stored in an AWS-managed facility. B - AWS Snowmobile is used for large-scale data migrations to the cloud, not for running workloads or storing data locally. C - AWS Outposts allows you to run AWS services, including Amazon EKS, in your own data center while keeping data locally. D - AWS Snowball Edge is a portable edge computing and data storage device, but it’s not suitable for running Kubernetes or AWS-managed services like Amazon EKS.

Show 2 more comments

asdfcdsxdfc 👍 5 Answered C

C looks correct
seetpt 👍 2 Answered C

C is correct

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