CCNA Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization Questions — Page 4 of 4

226

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a large-scale batch processing system from on-premises to AWS. The system runs millions of short-lived jobs each day. The company wants to minimize operational overhead and cost. Which AWS compute service should the company use?

A.Amazon EC2 with Spot Fleet

B.Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate

C.AWS Lambda

D.AWS Batch

AnswerD

AWS Batch dynamically provisions optimal compute (Spot or On-Demand) for millions of short-lived jobs, queues and schedules them automatically, and scales to zero between runs. This removes cluster management overhead and cuts cost versus continuously running servers.

Why this answer

AWS Batch is specifically designed for batch computing workloads, handling millions of short-lived jobs efficiently by automatically provisioning compute resources and scaling based on job demand. It integrates with Spot Instances to reduce costs. Option A is wrong because EC2 with Spot Fleet requires manual management of instances and scaling, increasing operational overhead.

Option B is wrong because ECS with Fargate is optimized for containerized applications, but AWS Batch provides more specialized features for batch job scheduling and cost optimization. Option C is wrong because Lambda has a maximum execution timeout of 15 minutes and is intended for short, event-driven functions, not suitable for batch processing.

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227

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a stateful web application to AWS. The application uses local storage for user sessions. Which AWS service can help make the application stateless and scalable?

A.Amazon EBS

B.Amazon ElastiCache

C.Amazon RDS

D.Amazon S3

AnswerB

Amazon ElastiCache provides a shared, low-latency external store that offloads session state from instance-local storage. This directly addresses the stem's constraint of local storage for user sessions, letting instances be replaced freely and scaled horizontally behind a load balancer.

Why this answer

Amazon ElastiCache provides a managed in-memory cache that can store session data externally, allowing the web application to be stateless and scale horizontally. Amazon EBS volumes are attached to a single EC2 instance and cannot be shared across instances, so they do not help with statelessness. Amazon RDS is for relational databases and is not optimized for low-latency session state.

Amazon S3 is an object store with higher latency and is not suitable for frequent session reads/writes.

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228

MCQhard

A company is migrating a batch processing application to AWS. The application reads large CSV files from an on-premises NFS server, processes them, and writes results to a local database. The company wants to reduce operational overhead and leverage AWS managed services. The migration should be completed with minimal code changes. Which migration approach should be used?

A.Use AWS DataSync to copy the CSV files to Amazon S3, then use AWS Batch to run the existing application in Docker containers on EC2, and store results in Amazon RDS.

B.Move the CSV files to Amazon S3, use AWS Lambda to process each file, and store results in Amazon DynamoDB.

C.Use AWS Storage Gateway File Gateway to provide NFS access to Amazon S3, then run the application on Amazon EC2 and store results in Amazon S3.

D.Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the CSV files to Amazon S3, then use Amazon EMR to process the files and store results in Amazon Redshift.

AnswerA

AWS DataSync automates the transfer of files from on-premises NFS to Amazon S3. AWS Batch can run the existing application in Docker containers with minimal changes, as it supports custom AMIs and job definitions. Storing results in Amazon RDS maintains the relational database model. This approach reduces operational overhead by using managed services while minimizing code changes.

Why this answer

The correct approach is to use AWS DataSync to move files to Amazon S3, then AWS Batch to run the existing application in Docker containers with minimal changes, and store results in Amazon RDS. This leverages managed services for data transfer and compute orchestration, reducing operational overhead, while preserving the application's logic and database model, thus minimizing code changes.

Exam trap

The trap here is assuming that serverless options like Lambda are always best, but they may require code changes and have limitations for long-running batch jobs.

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229

MCQeasy

A company wants to assess its on-premises environment for migration to AWS. The company needs to collect utilization data for servers and applications. Which AWS service should the company use?

A.AWS Migration Hub

B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

C.AWS Application Discovery Service

D.AWS Server Migration Service (SMS)

AnswerC

AWS Application Discovery Service gathers on-premises server and application utilisation data, including CPU, memory and network metrics, via agentless or agent-based collection. It satisfies the stem's requirement to assess the existing environment before migration, feeding that data into Migration Hub for planning.

Why this answer

AWS Application Discovery Service collects server and application utilization data from on-premises environments to support migration planning. Option A is wrong because AWS Migration Hub tracks migrations but does not perform discovery. Option B is wrong because AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is for migrating databases, not for collecting utilization data.

Option D is wrong because AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) is deprecated and was used for migrating individual servers, not for discovery.

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230

MCQhard

A company is migrating a containerized application from on-premises Kubernetes to Amazon EKS. The application requires persistent storage with high IOPS and must be accessible by multiple pods across different Availability Zones. Which storage solution should be used?

A.Amazon S3 mounted as a file system using s3fs.

B.Amazon FSx for Lustre with a scratch file system.

C.Amazon EBS with io2 Block Express volumes.

D.Amazon EFS with provisioned throughput.

AnswerD

Amazon EFS is a shared file system that can be mounted by multiple pods across different Availability Zones within a region. Provisioned throughput mode allows specifying throughput independently of storage size, providing the high IOPS required for the application.

Why this answer

Amazon EFS provides a shared, POSIX-compliant file system that can be mounted by multiple pods across Availability Zones. With provisioned throughput, EFS can deliver high IOPS independent of storage capacity, meeting the performance requirement. Other options are either not shared across AZs, not durable, or not suitable for high-performance file storage.

Exam trap

The trap here is assuming that Amazon EBS Multi-Attach can be used across Availability Zones, but it is limited to a single AZ and cannot satisfy cross-AZ sharing.

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231

MCQhard

A financial services company is migrating 45 on-premises physical servers to AWS. Many servers have underutilized resources and inconsistent tagging. The migration team must right-size instances and reduce costs. They need a service that collects server utilization and dependency data to form migration groups. Which AWS service should they use?

A.AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN)

B.AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS)

C.AWS Migration Hub

D.AWS Application Discovery Service

AnswerD

AWS Application Discovery Service performs agentless or agent-based discovery of on-premises servers. It collects configuration, usage, and performance data, and it can map network dependencies. This data feeds into migration planning, allowing the team to right-size instances based on actual utilization and to form migration groups based on dependencies, directly addressing the requirements.

Why this answer

AWS Application Discovery Service is purpose-built to discover on-premises servers and collect utilization and dependency data. This information is essential for right-sizing instances and forming migration groups. The other services either perform replication, track migration progress, or migrate databases, but none provide the comprehensive discovery and assessment capabilities required for this migration planning phase.

Exam trap

The trap here is assuming that AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) also handles discovery and assessment; in reality, it is a replication tool that assumes you already have a migration plan.

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232

MCQhard

A company is migrating a critical application from on-premises to AWS using a lift-and-shift approach. The application requires consistent low-latency access to an on-premises database. Which network solution should the company implement to meet the latency requirement during the migration?

A.Set up a site-to-site VPN over the internet.

B.Create a VPC peering connection between the on-premises network and AWS VPC.

C.Use AWS Client VPN to connect from the application servers.

D.Establish an AWS Direct Connect connection between the on-premises data center and AWS.

AnswerD

AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated, private fibre connection from the data centre to AWS, giving consistent low latency and jitter rather than the variable paths of internet-based VPN. This satisfies the stem's requirement for consistent low-latency access to the on-premises database during migration.

Why this answer

AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated private network connection from on-premises to AWS, offering consistent low latency and high bandwidth compared to internet-based connections. For a lift-and-shift application requiring consistent low-latency access to an on-premises database, Direct Connect is the appropriate solution.

Exam trap

SAP-C02 often tests the difference between VPN (internet-based, variable latency) and Direct Connect (dedicated, consistent latency); candidates may choose VPN for cost savings but miss the 'consistent low-latency' requirement.

How to eliminate wrong answers

Option A is wrong because a site-to-site VPN traverses the public internet, which introduces variable latency and is not suitable for consistent low-latency requirements. Option B is wrong because VPC peering connects two VPCs within AWS; it cannot connect an on-premises network to a VPC. Option C is wrong because AWS Client VPN is designed for remote user access, not for server-to-server or application-to-database connectivity, and it also uses the internet.

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233

MCQeasy

A company is planning to migrate a web application to AWS. The application currently runs on a single on-premises server with a few thousand users. The company wants to use a managed container service and minimize operational overhead. Which AWS service should the company use to run the application?

A.Amazon EKS

B.AWS Lambda

C.Amazon EC2

D.Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate

AnswerD

AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine for containers, so ECS tasks run without provisioning or managing EC2 instances. This satisfies the stem's requirement to minimise operational overhead while using a managed container service for the web application.

Why this answer

Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate is the right choice because it is a managed container service that runs containers without requiring the company to provision or manage EC2 instances, minimizing operational overhead. Fargate handles the underlying compute, scaling, and patching, so the team focuses on the application. For a few thousand users, this is a good fit without the complexity of Kubernetes.

Exam trap

SAP-C02 often tests whether candidates equate 'managed container service' with EKS, when the requirement to minimize operational overhead points to ECS with Fargate rather than Kubernetes.

How to eliminate wrong answers

Option A is wrong because Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that still requires significant operational expertise to manage clusters, nodes, and add-ons, which does not minimize overhead. Option B is wrong because AWS Lambda is a serverless function service, not a container service, and is not suited to running a full web application with a few thousand users unless it is architected as functions. Option C is wrong because Amazon EC2 requires the company to manage servers, patching, and scaling, which is the opposite of minimizing operational overhead.

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234

MCQhard

A company is migrating a 10 TB Oracle database to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. The database is business-critical and must have minimal downtime. The company has set up AWS DMS with ongoing replication from the source. During the migration, the company notices that DMS is failing with an error indicating insufficient memory. What should the company do to resolve this issue and complete the migration?

A.Increase the memory on the source Oracle database

B.Increase the instance class of the DMS replication instance

C.Change the DMS task to use change data capture (CDC) only and skip the full load

D.Split the migration into multiple smaller tasks

AnswerB

DMS memory exhaustion during ongoing replication is resolved by scaling the replication instance to a larger class, providing more RAM for change-data-capture buffers. This addresses the insufficient-memory error without restarting the migration or altering source data.

Why this answer

AWS DMS replication instances have finite memory allocated to cache changes during ongoing replication (CDC). When the volume of cached changes exceeds the instance's memory, DMS fails with an insufficient memory error. Increasing the instance class of the DMS replication instance (Option B) provides more memory to handle the cache, resolving the error without disrupting the migration.

Exam trap

The trap here is that candidates may think the error is on the source database (Option A) or that splitting tasks (Option D) solves memory issues, but DMS's memory error is specific to the replication instance's capacity, not the source or task granularity.

How to eliminate wrong answers

Option A is wrong because the source Oracle database's memory is unrelated to DMS's internal caching; DMS runs on its own replication instance, not on the source. Option C is wrong because skipping the full load would leave the target database empty, defeating the purpose of migration; CDC alone cannot populate the initial schema and data. Option D is wrong because splitting into multiple tasks does not increase the memory available to any single task; each task still runs on the same replication instance and would encounter the same memory limit.

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235

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. The application has a tightly coupled architecture and uses a relational database with complex stored procedures. The company wants to modernize the application by breaking it into microservices but wants to minimize the risk of a complete rewrite. Which approach should be taken?

A.Use the strangler fig pattern to incrementally extract microservices while keeping the monolith.

B.Refactor the entire application into microservices using AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB.

C.Replatform the application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk and use Amazon RDS.

D.Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and then gradually refactor components.

AnswerA

The strangler fig pattern allows you to gradually replace specific functionalities of the monolith with microservices, reducing risk by not requiring a full rewrite. You can route traffic to new services while the monolith continues to handle the rest. This approach is ideal for legacy modernization because it supports incremental change and rollback if issues arise.

Why this answer

The strangler fig pattern is the correct approach because it enables incremental modernization by extracting microservices one at a time while the monolith remains operational. This reduces risk and allows for testing and validation at each step. The other options either involve high-risk full rewrites, do not achieve modernization, or simply move the monolith to managed services without architectural change.

Exam trap

The trap here is thinking that rehosting or replatforming alone constitutes modernization, when in fact they do not break the monolith into microservices or reduce coupling.

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