SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is running a stateless web application on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. The application stores session data in an Amazon ElastiCache Redis cluster. After a recent deployment, users are being logged out frequently. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The application is not using the ElastiCache cluster for session storage.
The most likely cause is that the application is not using the ElastiCache cluster for session storage. If the application fails to properly store session data in Redis, sessions will not persist across instances. This becomes evident after a deployment if the configuration or code change inadvertently disables Redis session handling. Option A is incorrect because a small Auto Scaling group min size does not cause logouts; it affects capacity. Option B is incorrect because an aggressive health check might cause instance replacement, but if sessions are stored in Redis, users should not be logged out. Option D is incorrect because the ALB does not directly interact with ElastiCache; security group issues would cause connection failures, not intermittent logouts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The Auto Scaling group's min size is too small.
Why it's wrong here
Min size affects capacity but not session persistence; users would still be logged out if sessions are not stored externally.
- ✗
The Elastic Load Balancer's health check is too aggressive.
Why it's wrong here
Health checks cause instance replacement but should not affect sessions if stored externally.
- ✓
The application is not using the ElastiCache cluster for session storage.
Why this is correct
If sessions are stored locally on EC2 instances, they are lost when instances are terminated or scaled, causing logouts.
- ✗
The ElastiCache cluster's security group is blocking traffic from the ALB.
Why it's wrong here
The ALB does not need to access ElastiCache; the EC2 instances do. If blocked, the app would fail entirely, not just logouts.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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