SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to a microservices architecture on AWS. The application has a relational database with complex queries. The team wants to minimize changes to the existing codebase. Which database migration strategy should be recommended?
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 RDS for MySQL or PostgreSQL with read replicas.
Using Amazon RDS with the same database engine (MySQL or PostgreSQL) minimizes code changes, as the application can connect via standard SQL drivers. Read replicas can help with read scaling without altering the codebase. Option B is wrong because Aurora Serverless may require configuration changes and does not necessarily minimize code changes. Option C is wrong because S3 and Athena are not suitable for transactional relational queries and would require significant architectural changes. Option D is wrong because DynamoDB would require schema redesign and application changes to use NoSQL.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use Amazon RDS for MySQL or PostgreSQL with read replicas.
Why this is correct
RDS maintains SQL compatibility, minimizing code changes.
- ✗
Use Amazon Aurora Serverless to reduce management.
Why it's wrong here
Aurora may need minor code changes but not the best fit for complex queries.
- ✗
Store data in Amazon S3 and use Athena for queries.
Why it's wrong here
Athena is for analytics, not transactional queries.
- ✗
Migrate to Amazon DynamoDB for scalability.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is NoSQL, requiring query rewrites.
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 |
Go deeper
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SAP-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 company is migrating a monolithic legacy application to a microservices architecture on AWS. The application currently uses a relational database with complex joins. The migration must minimize application changes. Which database strategy should be used for the new architecture?
easy- A.Use a separate Amazon RDS instance for each microservice.
- ✓ B.Use a single Amazon RDS instance shared by all microservices.
- C.Use Amazon Aurora with RDS Proxy in front of it.
- D.Use Amazon DynamoDB as a shared database for all microservices.
Why B: The requirement to minimize application changes means the microservices must continue to use the same relational database with complex joins. A single shared Amazon RDS instance preserves the existing SQL queries and join logic without requiring data decomposition or API-based data access patterns, which would necessitate significant application rewrites.
JA
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.