- A
Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for the database.
Rehosting moves the application as-is to EC2 and RDS, minimizing code changes while providing scalability and HA.
- B
Replatform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon DynamoDB.
Why wrong: Replatforming would require changing the database to DynamoDB, which is not compatible with the legacy database and introduces code changes.
- C
Refactor the application to use a microservices architecture with Amazon Aurora.
Why wrong: Refactoring requires significant code changes and a new database, contradicting the requirement to minimize changes.
- D
Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS solution.
Why wrong: Retiring the application is not a migration strategy; it replaces the application entirely, which may not be acceptable.
Quick Answer
The answer is to rehost the monolithic application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for the legacy database. This lift-and-shift strategy is correct because it minimizes code changes while offloading database management to a managed service, allowing you to gain scalability through Auto Scaling groups and high availability via RDS Multi-AZ deployments—all without refactoring the legacy database engine. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish rehosting from replatforming or refactoring, especially when the question explicitly states the database cannot be easily changed. A common trap is assuming you must use the same database engine on EC2, but RDS supports legacy engines like Oracle or SQL Server with minimal migration effort. Memory tip: when the prompt says “cannot refactor” and “minimize changes,” think “lift-and-shift to EC2 + RDS” for immediate scalability and HA.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of accelerate workload migration and modernization. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 an on-premises monolithic application to AWS. The application uses a legacy database that cannot be easily refactored. The company wants to minimize changes to the application code while gaining scalability and high availability. Which migration strategy should the architect recommend?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for the database.
Rehosting (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application and database to AWS infrastructure (EC2 and RDS) with minimal changes. This preserves the legacy database and allows the company to achieve scalability and HA using AWS features like Multi-AZ and Auto Scaling. Replatforming would require modifying the database engine; refactoring involves significant changes; and retiring removes the application.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for the database.
Why this is correct
Rehosting moves the application as-is to EC2 and RDS, minimizing code changes while providing scalability and HA.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Replatform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
Replatforming would require changing the database to DynamoDB, which is not compatible with the legacy database and introduces code changes.
- ✗
Refactor the application to use a microservices architecture with Amazon Aurora.
Why it's wrong here
Refactoring requires significant code changes and a new database, contradicting the requirement to minimize changes.
- ✗
Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS solution.
Why it's wrong here
Retiring the application is not a migration strategy; it replaces the application entirely, which may not be acceptable.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
- →
Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All SAP-C02 questions
1,746 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
SAP-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related SAP-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity.
Design for New Solutions practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Design for New Solutions.
Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions.
Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization.
SAA-C03 VPC practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
SAA-C03 IAM policy practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
SAA-C03 CloudFront practice questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Start a free SAP-C02 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization — This question tests Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for the database. — Rehosting (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application and database to AWS infrastructure (EC2 and RDS) with minimal changes. This preserves the legacy database and allows the company to achieve scalability and HA using AWS features like Multi-AZ and Auto Scaling. Replatforming would require modifying the database engine; refactoring involves significant changes; and retiring removes the application.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways 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 legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application uses a proprietary database that is not supported by Amazon RDS. The migration must minimize downtime and require minimal changes to the application. Which migration strategy should the company use?
medium- A.Migrate the database to Amazon RDS with a compatible engine and modify connection strings.
- ✓ B.Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 instances and migrate the database using AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication.
- C.Refactor the application to use Amazon Aurora and modify the code to use the Aurora query interface.
- D.Replace the database with Amazon DynamoDB and rewrite database access layer.
Why B: Option B is correct because rehosting (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application as-is to Amazon EC2, which can host any database engine, and can minimize changes and downtime using tools like AWS Server Migration Service. Option A is incorrect because refactoring would require significant application changes. Option C is incorrect because replacing the database with a new one would require application modifications. Option D is incorrect because the database is not supported by RDS, so RDS cannot be used.
Variation 2. A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application uses a proprietary database that runs on a single Windows server. The company wants to minimize downtime and avoid re-architecting the database. Which migration strategy should the solutions architect recommend?
hard- A.Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS solution
- ✓ B.Rehost using AWS Application Migration Service (CloudEndure)
- C.Re-architect the application to use Amazon DynamoDB
- D.Replatform by migrating the database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server
Why B: Rehost (lift-and-shift) is the best option because it moves the application without changes, minimizing downtime and avoiding re-architecture. Replatforming would require some changes, and re-architecting would involve significant rework. Retire is not applicable.
Keep practising
More SAP-C02 practice questions
- Match each AWS compute service to its use case.
- A company is designing a new microservices architecture on AWS. They need a solution for service discovery that allows s…
- A company has a centralized logging account and multiple application accounts. All VPC Flow Logs are sent to a central S…
- A company is implementing AWS Control Tower to manage a multi-account environment. The security team needs to ensure tha…
- A company is designing a cross-account network architecture. The security team requires that all traffic between VPCs in…
- A company is using AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The central IT team wants to deploy a set of common VPCs in…
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.