Reviewed by Aditya Kumar · Last reviewed 2026-03-24
**Glue**: 15-min DPU billing minimum—short jobs still pay for 15 min. Cold start 2–10 min for first run. Max 100K DPU-hours per account (request increase). Not for sub-minute jobs. Job bookmark has limitations (only Append mode for some sources). **Lambda**: 15 min max duration;...
This easy-level Cloud/Tools question appears frequently in data engineering interviews at companies like Freecharge. While less common, it tests deeper understanding that distinguishes strong candidates. Mastering the underlying concepts (etl) will help you answer variations of this question confidently.
Start by clearly defining the core concept being asked about. Interviewers want to see that you understand the fundamentals before diving into implementation details. Structure your answer with a definition, then explain the practical application with a concise example.
Glue: 15-min DPU billing minimum—short jobs still pay for 15 min. Cold start 2–10 min for first run. Max 100K DPU-hours per account (request increase). Not for sub-minute jobs. Job bookmark has limitations (only Append mode for some sources). Lambda: 15 min max duration; 10 GB memory; 6 MB payload (synchronous); 256 KB (Step Functions). Concurrency limits (1000 default, request more). Not for multi-GB data; use Glue/EMR. Cold start for VPC Lambdas. When to use which: Lambda for triggers, small transforms, orchestration. Glue for batch ETL, large data. Cost: Glue minimum makes small jobs expensive; Lambda is cheap for small, frequent. At 1 TB, Glue; at 100 MB/event, Lambda.
Pro-Move: 'We hit Glue's 15-min minimum—combined 5 small jobs into one with branches, cutting DPU cost 60%.' Red Flag: Using Lambda for 5-minute, 2GB transform—wrong tool; use Glue.
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According to DataEngPrep.tech, this is one of the most frequently asked Cloud/Tools interview questions, reported at 1 company. DataEngPrep.tech maintains an editor-reviewed database of 1,863 data engineering interview questions across 7 categories.