SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is migrating a stateful application to AWS. The application runs on a single on-premises server and uses local storage for persistent data. The company wants to achieve high availability and scalability. Which migration approach should the company use?
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
✓
Refactor the application to store state in Amazon ElastiCache or Amazon DynamoDB.
The application is stateful and needs high availability and scalability. Refactoring to store state in managed services like Amazon ElastiCache or DynamoDB decouples state from compute, allowing compute to scale and be replaced without data loss. Option A is wrong: while an ALB with sticky sessions distributes traffic, it ties sessions to specific instances, making scaling and failover complex and not fully HA. Option B is wrong: a single EC2 instance is a single point of failure and cannot scale. Option D is wrong: EBS snapshots are for backup/disaster recovery, not real-time HA or state persistence during scaling. Only option C properly addresses state management for HA and scalability.
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 multiple EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions.
Why it's wrong here
Using multiple EC2 instances behind an ALB with sticky sessions still ties state to individual instances. If an instance fails, its sessions are lost, and scaling requires rebalancing sessions. This does not achieve true HA or scalability for state.
- ✗
Lift and shift to a single Amazon EC2 instance with an EBS volume.
Why it's wrong here
Lift and shift to a single EC2 instance with an EBS volume provides no HA or scalability; the instance is a single point of failure and cannot scale beyond its size.
- ✓
Refactor the application to store state in Amazon ElastiCache or Amazon DynamoDB.
Why this is correct
Refactoring to store state in Amazon ElastiCache or DynamoDB separates state from compute. This allows compute to scale in/out and instances to fail without data loss, achieving both HA and scalability.
- ✗
Use an EC2 Auto Scaling group with lifecycle hooks to persist state to EBS snapshots.
Why it's wrong here
Using an Auto Scaling group with lifecycle hooks and EBS snapshots is not suitable for real-time state persistence. Snapshots are point-in-time backups and cannot handle continuous state updates during scaling events.
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 |
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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