SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company has a monolithic application running on a single Amazon EC2 instance. The application consists of a web server and a backend worker process. The company wants to migrate to a microservices architecture using containers on Amazon ECS with Fargate. The solutions architect needs to design a solution that minimizes downtime during the migration. Which approach should the solutions architect recommend?
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
✓
Use a strangler fig pattern: gradually replace parts of the monolith with microservices, routing traffic via an Application Load Balancer.
A strangler fig pattern allows incremental migration of functionality from the monolith to microservices, with the ALB routing traffic to either the monolith or new services. This minimizes downtime because the old application remains operational while pieces are moved. Option A is wrong because a lift-and-shift of the entire application into a single container does not decompose it into microservices. Option C is wrong because running both the monolith and new services on the same instance but on different ports does not inherently minimize downtime and complicates routing. Option D is wrong because refactoring the entire application at once introduces significant risk and downtime.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a Docker image of the entire monolithic application and run it on ECS with Fargate.
Why it's wrong here
This does not achieve microservices; it's just containerization of the monolith.
- ✓
Use a strangler fig pattern: gradually replace parts of the monolith with microservices, routing traffic via an Application Load Balancer.
Why this is correct
This incremental approach minimizes downtime and risk, allowing both old and new to coexist.
- ✗
Run the monolithic application on the same EC2 instance as the new microservices, using different ports.
Why it's wrong here
This doesn't decompose the application and may cause resource contention.
- ✗
Refactor the entire application into microservices, then deploy all microservices at once on ECS.
Why it's wrong here
A big-bang approach increases risk and likely causes extended downtime.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-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 SAP-C02 exam.