SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. The application currently runs on a single Windows Server with IIS and SQL Server. The company wants to adopt a microservices architecture on AWS using containers. The development team has containerized the application into several Docker containers. The company needs a solution that minimizes operational overhead for managing the container orchestration and scaling, and also integrates with AWS services like IAM, CloudWatch, and VPC. Which AWS service should the company use to run the containers?
⚠ Common exam trap
SAP-C02 often tests the misconception that EKS is always the right answer for containers, when the requirement to minimize operational overhead points to Fargate.
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 ECS with the Fargate launch type.
Amazon ECS with the Fargate launch type is a serverless compute engine for containers that eliminates the need to provision or manage EC2 instances, directly minimizing operational overhead. It natively integrates with IAM task roles, CloudWatch Logs/metrics, and VPC networking (awsvpc mode), matching all stated requirements. This makes it the best fit for a team that wants to run Docker containers without managing orchestration infrastructure.
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 ECS with the Fargate launch type.
Why this is correct
Fargate's serverless compute model removes EC2 instance patching and cluster capacity management, satisfying the minimal-operational-overhead constraint. It runs containers inside the VPC with native IAM task roles and CloudWatch logging, integrating directly with the AWS services the stem requires.
- ✗
Amazon EKS with managed node groups.
Why it's wrong here
EKS requires you to provision and patch worker nodes, and managed node groups still leave cluster add-on and node lifecycle work with you. It is tempting because EKS runs Kubernetes, which suits complex microservice estates needing portability or custom controllers, but the stem's demand to minimise operational overhead points to Fargate.
- ✗
AWS Elastic Beanstalk with a Docker platform.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Beanstalk is tempting because it significantly minimises operational overhead for deploying and managing single-container or tightly coupled multi-container applications, abstracting underlying infrastructure. However, for a microservices architecture with several independently scalable Docker containers, Elastic Beanstalk's application-centric abstraction limits fine-grained control over individual service orchestration and scaling. It does not provide the dedicated container orchestration capabilities required for complex microservice deployments that services designed specifically for containers offer.
- ✗
Amazon EC2 instances with Docker installed, managed by an Auto Scaling group.
Why it's wrong here
Self-managed EC2 with Docker leaves you patching hosts, scaling capacity, and scheduling containers yourself, which contradicts the stated goal of minimising operational overhead. It is tempting because EC2 gives full control over the runtime and networking, and would be correct where custom kernel modules or licensing forbid managed container services.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.