SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company is modernizing a legacy application by refactoring it into microservices. The application uses a monolithic database. The company wants to adopt a microservices architecture with independent data stores. What pattern 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
✓
Database per Service
The Database per Service pattern ensures that each microservice owns its own data, promoting loose coupling and allowing independent scaling and technology choices. Option A is incorrect because a data lake with Amazon S3 is designed for analytics and large-scale storage, not for transactional microservices data stores. Option B is incorrect because a centralized database with an API layer still creates a single point of coupling and does not give each service its own data store. Option D is incorrect because a shared database with read replicas still uses a single database schema, which tightly couples the services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Data lake with Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 is object storage, not a transactional store, so it cannot host a service's own schema, constraints or writes. It is the right choice for a data lake holding analytics or event data, but microservice independence requires a database per service, such as DynamoDB or Aurora.
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Centralized database with an API layer
Why it's wrong here
A shared central database with an API layer keeps one schema and one store, so services remain coupled through it and cannot evolve or scale independently. An API layer suits exposing a legacy system during gradual strangler-fig migration, but it does not deliver independent data stores.
- ✓
Database per Service
Why this is correct
Database per Service gives each microservice its own private data store, removing the shared monolithic schema and allowing independent deployment and scaling. Services then integrate through APIs or events rather than direct cross-service database access.
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Shared database with read replicas
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas copy one primary database, so all services still share a single schema and write path; replicas only offload read traffic. This pattern suits scaling read-heavy workloads on a monolithic database, not giving each microservice its own independent data store.
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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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.