SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application uses a monolithic architecture and a MySQL database. The company wants to refactor the application into microservices and use a NoSQL database for better scalability. The new application will be deployed on Amazon EKS. The database must be highly available and support automatic scaling. Which database service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is picking DocumentDB because it is NoSQL and MongoDB-compatible, but the question does not require document semantics — DynamoDB is the default answer when 'NoSQL, highly available, automatic scaling, least operational overhead' are the criteria.
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 DynamoDB
Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed, serverless NoSQL key-value and document database that scales horizontally with automatic scaling, provides single-digit millisecond latency, and offers Multi-AZ high availability by default. It aligns with the requirement to move from a monolithic MySQL database to a NoSQL store for better scalability on EKS microservices.
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 Aurora Serverless
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Aurora Serverless is a relational engine, so it cannot satisfy the NoSQL requirement; it also scales by capacity units rather than the horizontal partitioning DynamoDB provides. It is tempting because it removes server management and scales automatically, making it the right pick when a workload needs MySQL or PostgreSQL compatibility with intermittent, unpredictable traffic.
- ✓
Amazon DynamoDB
Why this is correct
DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL key-value and document store that scales horizontally without provisioning, delivering single-digit-millisecond performance and multi-AZ durability by default. It satisfies the NoSQL, high-availability, and automatic-scaling requirements for the refactored microservices on Amazon EKS.
- ✗
Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)
Why it's wrong here
Amazon DocumentDB is a document database, which, while NoSQL, is not the most direct choice for general "better scalability" and "automatic scaling" when migrating from a relational database like MySQL and refactoring into microservices, without a specific requirement for a document data model. It is tempting because it offers NoSQL capabilities, high availability, and automatic scaling for storage. DocumentDB would be the correct choice if the new microservices application specifically required a document data model or MongoDB compatibility, leveraging its flexible schema for document-centric workloads.
- ✗
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ deployment
Why it's wrong here
Amazon RDS for MySQL with Multi-AZ keeps the relational engine, so it cannot satisfy the stem's NoSQL requirement. Multi-AZ provides failover, not read scaling. It is tempting because RDS suits lift-and-shift migrations of existing MySQL workloads needing high availability without schema changes. Here, refactoring to microservices with a NoSQL database rules it out.
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.