SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A company wants to migrate its on-premises file server to AWS. The file server contains 10 TB of data that changes infrequently. The company has a limited bandwidth internet connection and needs to complete the migration within one week. Which AWS service should the company use for the initial data transfer?
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
✓
AWS Snowball Edge
AWS Snowball Edge. This is the best option for migrating 10 TB of data over a limited bandwidth connection within a week, as it physically transfers the data via a portable storage device, bypassing the need for network bandwidth. Option A (Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration) is incorrect because it still relies on internet bandwidth, which is insufficient for the given timeline. Option C (AWS DMS) is for database migrations, not file servers. Option D (AWS DataSync) also requires network connectivity and bandwidth, making it unsuitable for the large initial transfer over a slow connection.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration speeds transfers over the public internet but cannot overcome the limited bandwidth ceiling, so 10 TB within a week is infeasible. It is tempting because it accelerates uploads to S3, which suits large transfers over adequate bandwidth rather than constrained links.
- ✓
AWS Snowball Edge
Why this is correct
AWS Snowball Edge suits the 10 TB dataset because it ships a physical appliance, bypassing the limited internet bandwidth that would make a one-week transfer infeasible. Data is copied locally to the device, returned to AWS, and ingested into S3, meeting the one-week deadline without saturating the existing connection.
- ✗
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why it's wrong here
DMS migrates database schemas and data between database engines, not file server contents, so it cannot move 10 TB of files. It is tempting because DMS handles large data migrations, but it is correct for homogeneous or heterogeneous database moves, not file shares.
- ✗
AWS DataSync
Why it's wrong here
DataSync transfers data over the network, which the limited bandwidth connection cannot complete for 10 TB within one week. It is tempting because DataSync is the standard online migration tool for file shares, and would be correct with sufficient bandwidth or more time.
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 |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This SAP-C02 question is part of Courseiva's 984-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way 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 plans to migrate 50 on-premises virtual machines (VMs) to AWS. The migration must be completed within 2 weeks. The VMs run various operating systems and have a total data size of 10 TB. The company has a low-bandwidth internet connection (50 Mbps). Which migration approach minimizes the time to transfer the data?
easy- A.Set up an AWS Direct Connect connection to increase bandwidth
- B.Create a VPN tunnel to AWS and use rsync to copy the data
- C.Use AWS Application Migration Service to replicate the VMs continuously
- ✓ D.Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the VM images physically
Why D: AWS Snowball Edge is a petabyte-scale data transport solution that uses secure physical devices to transfer large amounts of data into and out of AWS. With a 50 Mbps internet connection, transferring 10 TB would take approximately 18.5 days (10 TB * 8 * 10^6 Mb / 50 Mbps / 86400 s ≈ 18.5 days), exceeding the 2-week deadline. Snowball Edge can transfer the data physically within days, making it the fastest option.
JA
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.