SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a legacy e-commerce application to AWS. The application includes a web tier, an application tier, and a MySQL database. The company wants to improve scalability and reduce operational overhead. The architect plans to use Amazon RDS for MySQL and refactor the application to use Auto Scaling for the web and application tiers. However, the application currently stores session state locally on the web servers. What should the architect do to address session state management in the new architecture?
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 Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to store session state
Using ElastiCache for Redis provides a centralized, scalable session store that works with Auto Scaling. Using sticky sessions (ELB session stickiness) is a workaround but less scalable and not recommended for Auto Scaling. Storing sessions in RDS would add database load. Storing in S3 is not suitable for low-latency session access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Store session state in Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
S3 has higher latency and is not designed for session storage.
- ✗
Store session state in Amazon RDS for MySQL
Why it's wrong here
RDS is not optimized for high-frequency session reads/writes and could become a bottleneck.
- ✗
Configure an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions
Why it's wrong here
Sticky sessions can work but limit scalability and are not best practice for Auto Scaling.
- ✓
Use Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to store session state
Why this is correct
ElastiCache provides a fast, scalable, and centralized session store.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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