- A
Use an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier. Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache.
ALB sticky sessions route requests to the same instance, but session data is stored externally in ElastiCache, allowing any instance to serve requests.
- B
Use Amazon CloudFront with an origin load balancer and store session data in the web tier's local storage.
Why wrong: CloudFront is a CDN, not suitable for sticky sessions or stateful web tiers.
- C
Use an Application Load Balancer with cross-zone load balancing and store session data in Amazon DynamoDB.
Why wrong: While possible, DynamoDB adds latency and cost compared to ElastiCache for session storage, and cross-zone balancing is not relevant.
- D
Use a Network Load Balancer with instance targets and Amazon EFS to share session data.
Why wrong: NLB does not support sticky sessions (HTTP cookies) and EFS is not designed for high-frequency session data updates.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to use an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier and store session data in Amazon ElastiCache. This architecture decouples session state from the application servers, allowing the web tier to remain stateless and scale horizontally without losing user context, while the application tier offloads session persistence to ElastiCache’s in-memory cache for low-latency reads and writes. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of stateful versus stateless design patterns and the trade-offs between managed services like ElastiCache, DynamoDB, or EFS for session storage—a common trap is assuming Network Load Balancers or CloudFront can handle sticky sessions, but only ALB supports session affinity at Layer 7. Remember the mnemonic: “ALB for affinity, ElastiCache for cache.”
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of accelerate workload migration and modernization. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 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?
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 an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier. Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache.
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.
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.
- ✓
Use an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier. Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache.
Why this is correct
ALB sticky sessions route requests to the same instance, but session data is stored externally in ElastiCache, allowing any instance to serve requests.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use Amazon CloudFront with an origin load balancer and store session data in the web tier's local storage.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront is a CDN, not suitable for sticky sessions or stateful web tiers.
- ✗
Use an Application Load Balancer with cross-zone load balancing and store session data in Amazon DynamoDB.
Why it's wrong here
While possible, DynamoDB adds latency and cost compared to ElastiCache for session storage, and cross-zone balancing is not relevant.
- ✗
Use a Network Load Balancer with instance targets and Amazon EFS to share session data.
Why it's wrong here
NLB does not support sticky sessions (HTTP cookies) and EFS is not designed for high-frequency session data updates.
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.
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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Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization — study guide chapter
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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: Use an Application Load Balancer with sticky sessions for the web tier. Store session data in Amazon ElastiCache. — 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.
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
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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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