SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
A retail company is migrating its on-premises e-commerce platform to AWS. The platform consists of a load-balanced web tier, an application tier, and a MySQL database. The company wants to modernize the database by migrating to Amazon Aurora MySQL. The migration must have minimal downtime and support rollback. The database is 2 TB in size and has high write activity. The company has set up an AWS Direct Connect connection. Which approach should the company take to migrate the database with minimal downtime?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume native MySQL replication (Option D) is the simplest approach, but AWS DMS is the recommended managed service for heterogeneous or homogeneous migrations with minimal downtime, as it handles schema conversion, ongoing replication, and rollback seamlessly.
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 AWS SCT to convert the schema, then use AWS DMS with a full load and ongoing replication (CDC) task to keep the target in sync until cutover.
AWS DMS with a full load and ongoing change data capture (CDC) task enables continuous replication of high-write activity from the on-premises MySQL database to Amazon Aurora MySQL, minimizing downtime by keeping the target synchronized until cutover. The CDC component captures incremental changes after the full load, allowing a near-zero downtime migration with the ability to roll back by stopping replication and reverting to the source.
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 AWS SCT to convert the schema, then use AWS DMS with a full load task to migrate the data.
Why it's wrong here
A full load task without CDC will cause downtime because changes made during the migration will be lost.
- ✓
Use AWS SCT to convert the schema, then use AWS DMS with a full load and ongoing replication (CDC) task to keep the target in sync until cutover.
Why this is correct
Full load plus CDC provides continuous replication, minimizing downtime. Cutover is quick and rollback is possible by stopping replication.
- ✗
Use mysqldump to export the database, transfer the dump via AWS Direct Connect, and import into Aurora MySQL.
Why it's wrong here
mysqldump requires taking the application offline during the export to ensure consistency, causing downtime.
- ✗
Use the AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to convert the schema, then set up an Aurora Replica from the on-premises source using native MySQL replication.
Why it's wrong here
Native MySQL replication to Aurora is not supported from on-premises; it requires an Amazon RDS MySQL instance as a source.
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