SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company wants to deploy a new web application on AWS that uses a microservices architecture. The company expects rapid growth and wants to decouple services to allow independent scaling and development. The team wants to use Docker containers for consistency across environments. Which solution should a Solutions Architect recommend?
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
✓
Use Amazon ECS with Fargate to run each microservice as a separate task definition, with service auto scaling.
Amazon ECS with Fargate is a fully managed container orchestration service that allows each microservice to run as a separate task definition, enabling independent scaling and decoupling. Fargate eliminates the need to manage underlying EC2 instances, aligning with the requirement for Docker containers and microservices architecture. Option A is incorrect because Amazon Lightsail containers are designed for simpler workloads and lack the advanced orchestration, scaling, and networking features required for a microservices architecture at scale. Option B is incorrect because deploying each microservice on separate EC2 instances does not leverage containerization, leading to resource inefficiency and management overhead. An Application Load Balancer can distribute traffic but does not provide the independent scaling and isolation that containers offer. Option D is incorrect because AWS Elastic Beanstalk with Docker platform abstracts container management but imposes a PaaS model that may limit granular control over individual microservices. It is less suitable for decoupled microservices that require independent deployment and scaling compared to ECS with Fargate.
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 Amazon Lightsail containers to deploy each microservice as a container service.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Lightsail containers lack the native orchestration and granular scaling capabilities required to decouple microservices for rapid growth. This service is designed for low-complexity workloads or small-scale applications where predictable pricing is prioritised over advanced cluster management. It would be a valid choice for a developer needing to host a single, standalone container instance without the operational overhead of managing complex networking or orchestration layers.
- ✗
Deploy each microservice on separate EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 instances are not containerized; managing containers on EC2 adds overhead.
- ✓
Use Amazon ECS with Fargate to run each microservice as a separate task definition, with service auto scaling.
Why this is correct
ECS with Fargate is a fully managed container service that decouples services and scales independently.
- ✗
Use AWS Elastic Beanstalk with Docker platform to deploy each microservice as a separate environment.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Beanstalk abstracts containers but may not be ideal for many microservices (environment limits).
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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.