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Development with AWS Services →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Manage Session State with Amazon ElastiCache for Redis

This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A developer needs to store session state for a web application running on multiple EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Which AWS service should the developer use for a fully managed, highly available session store?

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

✓

Amazon ElastiCache

Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed, highly available, and low-latency in-memory data store ideal for session state management. Redis supports data persistence, replication across multiple Availability Zones, and automatic failover, ensuring session data is not lost when EC2 instances are added or removed behind the Application Load Balancer. Its sub-millisecond response times and built-in session management features (e.g., TTL for session expiry) make it the optimal service for this use case.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    Amazon RDS

    Why it's wrong here

    RDS is a relational database, not optimized for session state.

  • ✗

    Amazon S3

    Why it's wrong here

    S3 has higher latency and is not ideal for session storage.

  • ✗

    Amazon DynamoDB

    Why it's wrong here

    DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, but ElastiCache is more performant for session state.

  • ✓

    Amazon ElastiCache

    Why this is correct

    ElastiCache provides low-latency, managed caching for session state.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often choose DynamoDB (option C) because it is a managed NoSQL database with high availability, but they overlook that ElastiCache is specifically designed for in-memory caching and session state, offering lower latency and native session management features that DynamoDB lacks for this use case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, ElastiCache for Redis uses a primary-replica architecture with Multi-AZ replication to ensure high availability; if the primary node fails, a replica is promoted automatically. Redis supports the SAVE and BGSAVE commands for persistence, but for session state, developers typically use ephemeral storage with TTL (e.g., EXPIRE command) to automatically clean up stale sessions. A real-world scenario is a high-traffic e-commerce site where session data must survive instance reboots but not require full database durability—ElastiCache provides the perfect balance of speed and resilience.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
  • Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
  • Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

  • Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
  • Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DVA-C02 question test?

Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Amazon ElastiCache — Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed, highly available, and low-latency in-memory data store ideal for session state management. Redis supports data persistence, replication across multiple Availability Zones, and automatic failover, ensuring session data is not lost when EC2 instances are added or removed behind the Application Load Balancer. Its sub-millisecond response times and built-in session management features (e.g., TTL for session expiry) make it the optimal service for this use case.

What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Same concept, more angles

3 more ways this is tested on DVA-C02

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A developer wants to store session state for a web application running on multiple EC2 instances. Which AWS service provides a fully managed, in-memory data store that is ideal for this use case?

easy
  • ✓ A.Amazon ElastiCache for Redis
  • B.Amazon S3
  • C.Amazon DynamoDB
  • D.Amazon RDS for MySQL

Why A: Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is the correct choice because it provides a fully managed, in-memory data store that is ideal for storing session state across multiple EC2 instances. Redis supports atomic operations, TTL-based key expiration, and high-speed reads/writes, making it perfect for session management where low-latency access and automatic data eviction are critical. Unlike disk-based stores, ElastiCache for Redis keeps session data in memory, ensuring sub-millisecond response times and seamless scaling as the web application grows.

Variation 2. A developer needs to store session state for a stateless web application running on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Which AWS service should the developer use to ensure session data is not lost if an instance fails?

easy
  • A.Amazon S3
  • B.Amazon DynamoDB
  • ✓ C.Amazon ElastiCache
  • D.Amazon RDS

Why C: Amazon ElastiCache (specifically Redis or Memcached) is the correct choice because it provides a low-latency, in-memory data store that can persist session state externally from the EC2 instances. If an instance fails, the session data remains available in ElastiCache, allowing the ALB to route subsequent requests from the same user to any healthy instance without losing session context.

Variation 3. A developer wants to store session state for a web application that runs on multiple EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Which AWS service should the developer use to store the session state in a centralized, highly available location?

easy
  • A.Amazon RDS
  • B.Amazon S3
  • ✓ C.Amazon ElastiCache
  • D.AWS Lambda

Why C: Amazon ElastiCache is the correct choice because it provides a managed, in-memory caching service that supports Redis or Memcached, which are ideal for storing session state in a centralized, highly available manner. Session data requires low-latency reads and writes, and ElastiCache offers sub-millisecond performance, replication across multiple Availability Zones, and automatic failover, making it suitable for stateless web applications behind an Application Load Balancer.

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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026

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This DVA-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 DVA-C02 exam.