CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A company wants to migrate their on-premises VMware virtual machines to Amazon EC2. Which AWS service simplifies this lift-and-shift migration?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS MGN with the older EC2 Import/Export service, mistakenly thinking the legacy tool is sufficient for a modern lift-and-shift migration, but EC2 Import/Export requires manual steps and does not support continuous replication or automated conversion.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN)
AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) is the correct choice because it is specifically designed to simplify and automate the lift-and-shift migration of on-premises VMware virtual machines to Amazon EC2. It continuously replicates source servers (including VMware VMs) to a staging area in AWS, then automatically converts and launches the instances on EC2, minimizing downtime and manual effort.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Snowball
Why it's wrong here
AWS Snowball is designed for offline, petabyte-scale bulk data transfer of static files or datasets, moving physical storage devices into and out of AWS. It cannot migrate running workloads, replicate server state over time, or provision live EC2 instances with an operating system and applications. A Snowball job is a one-time transport, not a continuous replication and cutover mechanism, so it doesn't satisfy a lift-and-shift server migration requirement.
- ✓
AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN)
Why this is correct
AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) is the correct choice because it continuously replicates the entire source server—OS, system configuration, applications, and data—to a staging area in AWS. It uses agent-based block-level replication, lets you test cutover on non-disruptive test instances, and allows a final, near-zero-downtime cutover to production EC2 instances. This makes MGN the current AWS-recommended lift-and-shift service for physical, virtual, or cloud servers.
- ✗
AWS Database Migration Service
Why it's wrong here
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) specializes in migrating and continuously replicating relational and non-relational databases, with support for homogeneous and heterogeneous conversions to services like RDS. It moves only database schema and data, not the operating system, application stack, or server configuration. Therefore, DMS cannot rehost an entire on-premises server workload as EC2 instances, which is why it is the wrong tool for this lift-and-shift scenario.
- ✗
Amazon EC2 Import/Export
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Import/Export (formerly VM Import/Export) only performs a one-time snapshot-based import of virtual machine images as AMIs, so it cannot handle the continuous, block-level replication of an active on-premises server to AWS. Because it lacks automated orchestration for ongoing sync or transient cutover, it creates downtime and manual retries. AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) has superseded VM Import/Export as the current recommended service for full server migrations, making this option incorrect.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.