SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a monolithic application to Amazon ECS. The application currently stores session data in local memory. Which migration strategy should the company adopt to ensure scalability and fault tolerance?
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
✓
Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache for Redis.
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis provides a fast, in-memory data store that can be shared across multiple containers, enabling horizontal scaling and fault tolerance. Option C (sticky sessions) ties a client to a specific container, preventing true statelessness and causing uneven load distribution. Option B (Amazon S3) has high latency unsuitable for session data. Option D (Amazon DynamoDB) is a NoSQL database that can store sessions but is slower and more costly than a dedicated caching layer like Redis for session management.
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 data in Amazon ElastiCache for Redis.
Why this is correct
ElastiCache provides a highly available, in-memory cache that containers can access independently.
- ✗
Use Amazon S3 to store session data.
Why it's wrong here
S3 has higher latency and is not designed for frequent read/write session operations.
- ✗
Use sticky sessions (session affinity) on the Application Load Balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Sticky sessions tie a client to a specific container, which limits scaling and fault tolerance.
- ✗
Migrate session data to Amazon DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is not optimized for session caching; ElastiCache is the recommended service.
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 web application to AWS and wants to use Amazon ECS with Fargate. The application needs to store session state. Which AWS service should the company use for session state management?
medium- ✓ A.Amazon ElastiCache for Redis
- B.Amazon S3
- C.Amazon DynamoDB
- D.Amazon RDS
Why A: Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is a fully managed, in-memory caching service that provides low-latency access to session data, making it ideal for session state management in containerized applications on ECS Fargate. Option B (Amazon S3) is wrong because S3 is object storage with higher latency and is not designed for frequent, low-latency read/write operations required for session state. Option C (Amazon DynamoDB) is wrong because while it can be used, it is not the most common or recommended choice for session state due to higher latency compared to in-memory caching; ElastiCache is typically preferred. Option D (Amazon RDS) is wrong because RDS is a relational database service for persistent storage, not for transient session state with low-latency requirements.
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.