How can the developer MOST efficiently handle the temporary files?
Store the files in Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) and delete the files at the end of the Lambda function.
Copy the files to Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) and delete the files at the end of the Lambda function.
Store the files in the /tmp directory and delete the files at the end of the Lambda function.
Copy the files to an Amazon S3 bucket with a lifecycle policy to delete the files.
Explanations:
Amazon EBS is not suitable for Lambda functions because it requires a persistent EC2 instance. Lambda functions do not have a dedicated EC2 instance running, making it inefficient for temporary storage.
Amazon EFS can be used with Lambda, but it adds unnecessary complexity and latency for temporary file storage. Since the files are only needed temporarily, using EFS is not the most efficient approach.
The /tmp directory is specifically designed for temporary file storage in Lambda functions, allowing up to 512 MB of space. Files stored here are automatically deleted after the function execution, making it the most efficient option for this scenario.
While Amazon S3 can store files, it is not efficient for temporary storage due to the overhead of making API calls to upload and delete files. Additionally, files in S3 do not automatically delete unless explicitly managed with lifecycle policies, which adds unnecessary complexity for temporary files.
I calculate that the answer is:
Store the files in the /tmp directory and delete the files at the end of the Lambda function.