SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a high-traffic web application to AWS. The application currently runs on physical servers in a data center and uses a shared file system for user-uploaded content. The company wants to minimize changes to the application and ensure the file system is highly available across multiple Availability Zones. Which AWS service should be used to replace the shared file system?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that Amazon S3 can serve as a drop-in replacement for a shared file system without application changes.
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 Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) with mount targets in multiple Availability Zones
Amazon EFS provides a managed NFS file system that can be mounted on multiple EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones, offering high availability and durability. It requires no application changes, making it ideal for replacing an on-premises shared file system. Other options either require application modifications or do not provide a shared, multi-AZ file system.
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 FSx for Windows File Server with a Multi-AZ deployment
Why it's wrong here
FSx for Windows File Server is designed for Windows workloads that require SMB protocol and Active Directory integration. The scenario does not specify Windows; using it would introduce unnecessary complexity and cost. It is not the optimal choice for a generic shared file system replacement in a Linux-based web application.
- ✓
Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) with mount targets in multiple Availability Zones
Why this is correct
Amazon EFS is a fully managed, elastic NFS file system that can be mounted on EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones. It provides shared storage with high availability and durability, requiring no application changes. This matches the requirement to replace the shared file system with minimal changes and multi-AZ availability.
- ✗
Amazon S3 with a bucket for each Availability Zone
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 is object storage, not a file system. While it can be used for user-uploaded content, it requires application changes to use the S3 API. The scenario requires minimal changes, so replacing a shared file system with S3 would not be transparent to the application and would not provide a mountable file system.
- ✗
Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volumes replicated across Availability Zones
Why it's wrong here
EBS volumes are block storage attached to a single EC2 instance and cannot be shared across multiple instances or Availability Zones simultaneously. They are not a shared file system and would not provide the required multi-AZ, concurrent access for the web application.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.