Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store and AWS Secrets Manager. These two services are the correct choices because they provide secure, centralized storage for configuration data and secrets, with native integration into Amazon ECS with Fargate. Secrets Manager is purpose-built for managing sensitive data like database credentials and API keys, offering automatic rotation and lifecycle management, while Parameter Store handles configuration data such as environment variables and connection strings, supporting both plaintext and encrypted values via AWS KMS. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of how to securely inject secrets into Fargate containers at runtime without hardcoding them in task definitions or environment variables—a common pitfall is choosing S3 or DynamoDB, which lack native secret rotation and fine-grained access control. Remember the memory tip: “Secrets rotate, Parameters configure”—Secrets Manager rotates secrets automatically, while Parameter Store stores static or tiered configuration data.
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 designing a new application that will run on Amazon ECS with Fargate. They need to store configuration data and secrets securely. Which services should they use? (Choose TWO.)
AWS Secrets Manager
Designed for secrets management.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Can store configuration and secrets.
Amazon S3
Why wrong: Not secure for secrets without additional encryption.
AWS CloudFormation
Why wrong: Not a configuration store.
AWS KMS
Why wrong: Key management, not storage.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager is correct because it is purpose-built for securely storing, rotating, and managing secrets such as database credentials and API keys throughout their lifecycle. It integrates natively with Amazon ECS to inject secrets into containers at runtime without exposing them in the task definition or environment variables, meeting the requirement for secure configuration data and secrets.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
Designed for secrets management.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why this is correct
Can store configuration and secrets.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Not secure for secrets without additional encryption.
AWS CloudFormation
Why it's wrong here
Not a configuration store.
AWS KMS
Why it's wrong here
Key management, not storage.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store (which can store secure strings) with AWS Secrets Manager, but the exam expects you to know that Secrets Manager is the preferred service for secrets that require automatic rotation, while Parameter Store is better for configuration data that does not need rotation, and both are correct in this question because the requirement is to store both configuration data and secrets securely.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, AWS Secrets Manager uses envelope encryption with AWS KMS to encrypt each secret at rest, and it supports automatic rotation via AWS Lambda functions, which is critical for compliance in production. A subtle behavior is that Secrets Manager can generate random passwords with specific character sets and lengths, and it integrates with Amazon ECS via the 'secrets' parameter in the task definition, which injects the secret as an environment variable or into a log configuration without exposing it in plaintext in the task definition JSON. In a real-world scenario, if a company needs to rotate database credentials every 30 days, Secrets Manager handles this automatically, while Parameter Store would require custom automation.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Design for New Solutions — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Secrets Manager — AWS Secrets Manager is correct because it is purpose-built for securely storing, rotating, and managing secrets such as database credentials and API keys throughout their lifecycle. It integrates natively with Amazon ECS to inject secrets into containers at runtime without exposing them in the task definition or environment variables, meeting the requirement for secure configuration data and secrets.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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