The correct answer is to replatform the Oracle database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and refactor the application to use it, as this directly addresses the core goals of reducing licensing costs and improving scalability. By moving from a costly proprietary Oracle license to the open-source PostgreSQL engine, the company eliminates per-core licensing fees while gaining a fully managed database service that automatically handles scaling, backups, and high availability. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between rehosting (which preserves Oracle costs) and replatforming (which swaps the database engine to cut expenses). A common trap is choosing to simply rehost on Amazon RDS for Oracle, which still incurs licensing fees; the key insight is that PostgreSQL is free and scales horizontally with read replicas. Memory tip: think “PG saves your wallet” — PostgreSQL eliminates Oracle’s price tag while PostgreSQL’s managed scaling handles growth.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of accelerate workload migration and modernization. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 planning to migrate a legacy application to AWS. The application runs on a single server with a monolithic architecture and uses an Oracle database. The migration team wants to reduce licensing costs and improve scalability. Which TWO strategies should the team consider?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Replatform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL.
Option A is correct because replatforming the application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk reduces operational overhead by automating capacity provisioning, load balancing, and scaling, while migrating from Oracle to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL eliminates Oracle licensing costs and provides a managed database service with built-in high availability and scalability. This approach directly addresses the company's goals of reducing licensing costs and improving scalability without requiring a full application rewrite.
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.
✓
Replatform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL.
Why this is correct
Reduces operational overhead and licensing costs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Refactor the application into microservices and use Amazon DynamoDB for data storage.
Why it's wrong here
High refactoring effort; not directly reducing licensing costs.
✓
Replatform the database to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL and refactor the application to use it.
Why this is correct
Reduces licensing costs and improves scalability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for Oracle with license-included.
Why it's wrong here
License-included is more expensive.
✗
Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for Oracle with BYOL.
Why it's wrong here
Still uses Oracle licensing; does not reduce costs.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse 'replatforming' (option A and C) with 'refactoring' (option B) or assume that rehosting with Oracle BYOL (option E) reduces costs, when in fact BYOL still requires existing licenses and does not eliminate licensing expenses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Replatforming to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL leverages the AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to perform a homogeneous migration from Oracle to PostgreSQL, using the Oracle to PostgreSQL conversion tool (ora2pg) or AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to handle schema and data type differences. Elastic Beanstalk abstracts the underlying EC2 instances, Auto Scaling groups, and Elastic Load Balancers, allowing the application to scale horizontally based on demand, while RDS for PostgreSQL supports read replicas and Multi-AZ deployments for improved scalability and availability.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: Replatform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. — Option A is correct because replatforming the application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk reduces operational overhead by automating capacity provisioning, load balancing, and scaling, while migrating from Oracle to Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL eliminates Oracle licensing costs and provides a managed database service with built-in high availability and scalability. This approach directly addresses the company's goals of reducing licensing costs and improving scalability without requiring a full application rewrite.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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