- A
Enable sticky sessions (session affinity) on the application tier's load balancer.
Why wrong: Sticky sessions can cause load imbalance and are not a long-term solution.
- B
Move session storage to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis and configure the application to use it.
ElastiCache provides a centralized, fast session store that works across instances.
- C
Increase the number of instances in the web tier to reduce the load on the application tier.
Why wrong: Scaling web tier does not address session state loss.
- D
Store session data in Amazon DynamoDB.
Why wrong: DynamoDB is not optimized for session storage; requires custom implementation.
Question 1,012 of 1,746
Centralized Session Storage with ElastiCache — Achieving Stateless App Tier | AWS Solutions Architect Professional Explained
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of accelerate workload migration and modernization. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 migrating a web application from on-premises to AWS. The application consists of a stateless web tier and a stateful application tier that stores session data in a local file system. The company wants to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk for both tiers. During a test migration, the development team notices that users are being logged out intermittently. The application tier is configured with two EC2 instances behind an internal load balancer. What should the development team do to resolve the issue?
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
✓
Move session storage to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis and configure the application to use it.
The issue is that session data is stored locally on each application instance. When traffic is distributed by the internal load balancer, subsequent requests from the same user may go to a different instance, losing the session data. The best practice is to use a centralized session store like Amazon ElastiCache for Redis. This ensures session data persists across all instances. Option A (sticky sessions) would cause load imbalance and is not recommended for high availability. Option C does not address session storage. Option D (DynamoDB) is possible but not as performant for session storage and requires more custom code; Redis is the recommended service for session management.
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.
- ✗
Enable sticky sessions (session affinity) on the application tier's load balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Sticky sessions can cause load imbalance and are not a long-term solution.
- ✓
Move session storage to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis and configure the application to use it.
Why this is correct
ElastiCache provides a centralized, fast session store that works across instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Increase the number of instances in the web tier to reduce the load on the application tier.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling web tier does not address session state loss.
- ✗
Store session data in Amazon DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is not optimized for session storage; requires custom implementation.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Visual reference
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
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: Move session storage to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis and configure the application to use it. — The issue is that session data is stored locally on each application instance. When traffic is distributed by the internal load balancer, subsequent requests from the same user may go to a different instance, losing the session data. The best practice is to use a centralized session store like Amazon ElastiCache for Redis. This ensures session data persists across all instances. Option A (sticky sessions) would cause load imbalance and is not recommended for high availability. Option C does not address session storage. Option D (DynamoDB) is possible but not as performant for session storage and requires more custom code; Redis is the recommended service for session management.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways 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 is migrating a multi-tier web application to AWS. The application consists of a stateless web tier and a stateful application tier that uses sticky sessions. The company wants to reduce operational overhead and improve elasticity. Which architecture should the solutions architect recommend?
medium- ✓ A.Use an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier. Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache.
- B.Use Amazon CloudFront with an origin load balancer and store session data in the web tier's local storage.
- C.Use an Application Load Balancer with cross-zone load balancing and store session data in Amazon DynamoDB.
- D.Use a Network Load Balancer with instance targets and Amazon EFS to share session data.
Why A: Using an Application Load Balancer (ALB) with sticky sessions (session affinity) enables the web tier to be stateless and scale horizontally. The application tier can use ElastiCache for session state storage, making it stateless as well. This reduces overhead and improves elasticity. NLB with EFS is not suitable for session state; ALB with DynamoDB is overkill; CloudFront does not support sticky sessions.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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