The correct choice is the Application Load Balancer (ALB) with stickiness and SSL termination because ALB natively supports session affinity through sticky sessions via cookies, and it can offload SSL decryption at the load balancer level, reducing the processing burden on ECS Fargate containers. For the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of how to integrate load balancing with containerized microservices, specifically that ALB is the only AWS load balancer that combines both sticky sessions and SSL termination in a single layer. A common trap is choosing Network Load Balancer (NLB) for its performance, but NLB lacks native session stickiness, making it unsuitable for stateful applications. Another pitfall is defaulting to Classic Load Balancer (CLB), which is legacy and not optimized for modern container architectures like Fargate. Memory tip: ALB = Application + Affinity + SSL, while NLB = Network, No stickiness.
SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing solutions. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. They plan to use Amazon ECS with Fargate for containerized microservices. The application requires sticky sessions and SSL termination. What should the company use to meet these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Application Load Balancer (ALB) with stickiness and SSL termination.
Option C is correct because ALB supports sticky sessions (session affinity) and SSL termination. Option A is wrong because NLB does not support sticky sessions natively. Option B is wrong because CLB is legacy and less recommended. Option D is wrong because Lambda is not a load balancer.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Network Load Balancer (NLB) with target group stickiness.
Why it's wrong here
NLB does not support sticky sessions at the application layer.
✓
Application Load Balancer (ALB) with stickiness and SSL termination.
Why this is correct
ALB supports both session stickiness and SSL termination.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Classic Load Balancer (CLB) with SSL termination at the instance.
Why it's wrong here
CLB is legacy; ALB is preferred for containerized microservices.
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Application Load Balancer (ALB) with stickiness and SSL termination. — Option C is correct because ALB supports sticky sessions (session affinity) and SSL termination. Option A is wrong because NLB does not support sticky sessions natively. Option B is wrong because CLB is legacy and less recommended. Option D is wrong because Lambda is not a load balancer.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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