SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a legacy application that uses a proprietary binary protocol over TCP. The application must be migrated with minimal changes and requires high throughput. Which AWS service should the architect recommend for load balancing?
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
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Network Load Balancer (NLB)
Network Load Balancer (NLB) is designed for TCP traffic at high throughput with minimal latency, making it ideal for migrating legacy applications using proprietary binary protocols over TCP. Option B (AWS Global Accelerator) improves application performance by directing traffic over the AWS global network but is not a load balancer. Option C (Application Load Balancer) operates at Layer 7 and is best for HTTP/HTTPS traffic, not TCP. Option D (Classic Load Balancer) is a legacy option that lacks the performance and features of NLB.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Network Load Balancer (NLB)
Why this is correct
Network Load Balancer operates at Layer 4, forwarding TCP connections without inspecting or terminating them, so the proprietary binary protocol passes through unchanged. It satisfies the minimal-changes constraint and handles millions of requests per second, meeting the high-throughput requirement that an Application Load Balancer could not.
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AWS Global Accelerator
Why it's wrong here
Global Accelerator optimises routing to regional endpoints over the AWS global network; it does not perform TCP load balancing across targets, so it cannot distribute the proprietary binary protocol traffic. It suits accelerating global users to static anycast IPs, not terminating and balancing TCP flows.
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Application Load Balancer (ALB)
Why it's wrong here
ALB operates at layer 7 and terminates HTTP/HTTPS, so it cannot forward a proprietary binary protocol over raw TCP. It is tempting because ALB supports advanced routing, but that applies to HTTP workloads; Network Load Balancer handles arbitrary TCP with ultra-low latency and high throughput.
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Classic Load Balancer (CLB)
Why it's wrong here
CLB supports TCP but is a legacy generation with lower throughput and no per-AZ cross-zone balancing guarantees at the scale required. It is tempting as a familiar TCP-capable option, yet Network Load Balancer provides the high throughput and static IPs this migration needs.
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