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CCNA Migration Modernization Questions

75 of 331 questions · Page 1/5 · Migration Modernization topic · Answers revealed

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1

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a .NET application from Windows Server to AWS. The application uses SQL Server and needs to run on Amazon EC2. The company wants to reduce licensing costs. Which Amazon EC2 instance type should the company use?

A.C5

B.T3

C.A1

D.I3

AnswerB

T3 instances are burstable and cost-effective for workloads with moderate CPU usage, reducing licensing costs.

Why this answer

T3 instances are burstable and cost-effective for workloads with moderate CPU usage, making them ideal for reducing licensing costs for a .NET application on SQL Server. Option A (C5) is compute-optimized and may be overkill, increasing costs. Option C (A1) is ARM-based and may not support .NET.

Option D (I3) is storage-optimized and not cost-effective for this scenario.

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2

MCQmedium

A company is modernizing its monolithic application by breaking it into microservices. The application uses a shared MySQL database. The team wants to implement a database per microservice pattern. Which AWS service should be used to manage multiple databases efficiently?

A.Amazon RDS for MySQL with multiple DB instances

B.Amazon ElastiCache for Redis

C.Amazon DynamoDB

D.Amazon EFS

AnswerA

Correct. Amazon RDS for MySQL allows creating multiple DB instances, each serving as a dedicated database for a microservice, with automated backups, scaling, and maintenance.

Why this answer

Amazon RDS for MySQL can manage multiple DB instances, each dedicated to a microservice, with managed backups, scaling, and maintenance. Option B (Amazon ElastiCache for Redis) is wrong because it is a caching layer, not a primary database. Option C (Amazon DynamoDB) is wrong because it is a NoSQL database, which may not suit all microservices, especially those requiring relational data.

Option D (Amazon EFS) is wrong because it is a file storage service, not a database.

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3

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a monolithic e-commerce application to a microservices architecture on AWS. The migration must minimize downtime and allow rollback. Which migration strategy should the company use?

A.Refactor

B.Big bang migration

C.Strangler fig pattern

D.Rehost (lift and shift)

AnswerC

Gradually replaces monolith with microservices, allowing rollback.

Why this answer

The strangler fig pattern allows gradual replacement of monolithic components with microservices, minimizing downtime and enabling easy rollback. Option A (refactor) typically involves rewriting the entire application, which often requires significant downtime and increases risk. Option B (big bang migration) migrates all components at once, leading to extended downtime and high risk.

Option D (rehost) moves the monolith as-is without modernization, which does not achieve the goal of migrating to a microservices architecture.

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4

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a monolithic application to AWS. They want to minimize refactoring effort while gaining some benefits of the cloud. Which migration strategy is most appropriate?

A.Refactor / Re-architect

B.Repurchase

C.Rehost (lift-and-shift)

D.Replatform (lift-tinker-and-shift)

AnswerC

Minimal changes; move as-is to EC2 or VMware Cloud on AWS.

Why this answer

Rehost (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application as-is to AWS with minimal changes, aligning with the goal of minimizing refactoring effort. Option A is wrong because Refactor/Re-architect requires significant code changes. Option B is wrong because Repurchase involves switching to a different product, often a SaaS solution.

Option D is wrong because Replatform (lift-tinker-and-shift) involves some modifications to the application to take advantage of cloud capabilities, which requires more effort than pure rehost.

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5

MCQmedium

A company is migrating 50 TB of data from on-premises to Amazon S3 over a 100 Mbps internet connection. The migration must complete within 30 days. What should they do?

A.Use AWS Snowball Edge devices

B.Use AWS DataSync to transfer data

C.Use AWS Direct Connect to increase bandwidth

D.Use S3 Transfer Acceleration

AnswerA

Snowball Edge provides physical data transfer, overcoming bandwidth limitations.

Why this answer

At 100 Mbps, transferring 50 TB would take approximately 48 days (50 TB * 1024 GB/TB * 1024 MB/GB * 8 bits/byte / (100 Mbps) / 86400 sec/day ≈ 48 days), exceeding the 30-day window. AWS Snowball Edge can transfer data faster via physical shipment. Option A (increase bandwidth) may not be feasible.

Option C (S3 Transfer Acceleration) still uses internet. Option D (AWS DataSync) also uses network.

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6

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy monolithic e-commerce platform to AWS. The platform consists of a Java-based web application, an Oracle database, and a file server storing product images. The company's migration requirements are: (1) minimize downtime during cutover, (2) reduce operational overhead for the database, (3) enable future migration to microservices. The current on-premises environment experiences high I/O latency for the file server. The company has already set up a VPN connection to AWS and has installed the AWS Application Discovery Service agent on all servers. During the assessment, you discover that the Oracle database is 2 TB and the file server holds 5 TB of images. The web application is tightly coupled with the database and uses stored procedures. You need to design the migration approach. Which combination of actions should be taken?

A.Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the database and files. After data is loaded, cut over DNS to AWS.

B.Use AWS DMS for continuous replication of the database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. Use AWS DataSync to copy files to Amazon EFS. Then cut over.

C.Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication to Amazon RDS for Oracle. Use S3 Transfer Acceleration to upload files to Amazon S3. Then cut over.

D.Refactor the application into microservices using Amazon ECS. Use Amazon RDS for Oracle and Amazon S3 for images. Then cut over gradually.

AnswerC

Minimizes downtime, reduces operational overhead, and addresses high latency.

Why this answer

Using AWS DMS with ongoing replication minimizes downtime, RDS for Oracle reduces operational overhead, and S3 with Transfer Acceleration addresses high latency for file transfer. Option A is wrong because Snowball is offline and may cause longer cutover. Option B is wrong because EFS is not the best for image storage; S3 is better.

Option D is wrong because refactoring to microservices during migration increases risk and complexity.

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7

MCQmedium

A company is planning to migrate its on-premises data warehouse to AWS. The data warehouse runs on a large Oracle RAC cluster with complex stored procedures and ETL jobs. The company wants to minimize migration effort while gaining cloud benefits. Which AWS service should be used as the target?

A.Amazon DynamoDB

B.Amazon RDS for Oracle

C.Amazon Redshift

D.Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL

AnswerC

Redshift is AWS's data warehouse service, suitable for migrating from Oracle.

Why this answer

Amazon Redshift is the AWS data warehouse service that can migrate from Oracle RAC with minimal changes using the AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT). Option A is incorrect because Amazon DynamoDB is a NoSQL database, not a data warehouse. Option B is incorrect because Amazon RDS for Oracle is a relational database service and not optimized for data warehousing workloads.

Option D is incorrect because Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL is a relational database, not a data warehouse.

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8

MCQmedium

A company is migrating its on-premises NoSQL database (MongoDB) to Amazon DocumentDB. The migration must have minimal downtime. The company uses AWS DMS with ongoing replication. After starting the replication, the target DocumentDB cluster shows a lag of several minutes. The source MongoDB has high write throughput. What should the company do to reduce replication lag?

A.Increase the DMS replication instance size.

B.Increase the DocumentDB cluster instance size.

C.Disable CDC and perform a full load only.

D.Enable Parallel Apply in DMS task settings.

AnswerA

More resources improve replication speed.

Why this answer

Larger DMS instances handle higher throughput. Option B is wrong because increasing DocumentDB size doesn't help DMS. Option C is wrong because CDC captures changes.

Option D is wrong because Parallel Apply is not a DMS setting.

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9

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a stateful application to AWS. The application maintains session state in memory on the application server. Which AWS service should be used to store session state for high availability?

A.Amazon RDS

B.Amazon S3

C.Amazon ElastiCache

D.Amazon EBS

AnswerC

ElastiCache (Memcached or Redis) is purpose-built for session state.

Why this answer

Mazon ElastiCache because it is a managed in-memory caching service that can store session state with low latency and high availability across multiple nodes. Option A (Amazon RDS) is a relational database that uses disk-based storage, making it slower for session state. Option B (Amazon S3) is object storage with higher latency, unsuitable for real-time session data.

Option D (Amazon EBS) is block storage attached to a single EC2 instance, not providing shared access for high availability.

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10

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy application that uses TCP on port 8080 to AWS. The application must be accessible from the internet. The company wants to use an Application Load Balancer. What must the company do to ensure the load balancer can accept traffic on port 8080?

A.Configure the security group to allow inbound traffic on port 80 and 443 only.

B.Change the ALB's default port to 8080.

C.Assign an Elastic IP address to the ALB.

D.Create a listener for port 8080 on the ALB.

AnswerD

You can create a listener for any port.

Why this answer

ALB supports custom ports; you create a listener for port 8080. Option A is wrong because ALB does not require a specific security group port; you can configure any port. Option B is wrong because you cannot change the ALB's default ports; you add a listener.

Option C is wrong because ALB itself does not need a public IP; it uses a DNS name.

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11

MCQhard

A company is migrating an on-premises .NET application to AWS. The application uses a SQL Server database with a large number of stored procedures and triggers. The company wants to reduce licensing costs by moving to an open-source database. Which AWS service should the solutions architect use to automate the database conversion?

A.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

B.AWS App2Container

C.AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)

D.AWS Application Migration Service (CloudEndure)

AnswerC

Correct: SCT automates schema and code conversion to target databases.

Why this answer

AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) automates the conversion of database schema and code to a target database like PostgreSQL or MySQL. DMS handles data migration, not schema conversion. App2Container is for containerizing applications.

CloudEndure is for server migration.

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12

Multi-Selecteasy

A company is migrating a batch processing workload to AWS. The workload runs daily and processes large files. Which TWO AWS services are most suitable for this workload? (Choose TWO.)

Select 2 answers

A.AWS Step Functions

B.Amazon ECS

C.Amazon SQS

D.AWS Batch

E.AWS Lambda

AnswersA, D

Step Functions can orchestrate batch workflows.

Why this answer

AWS Batch is a purpose-built service for batch computing, handling job scheduling, scaling, and execution. AWS Step Functions orchestrates the workflow, managing dependencies, retries, and parallelism. The other options are less suitable: Amazon ECS is for container orchestration, not specifically batch; Amazon SQS is a message queue; AWS Lambda has execution time and memory limits that make it unsuitable for processing large files daily.

Therefore, the two correct choices are AWS Batch and AWS Step Functions.

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13

Matchingmedium

Match each AWS networking concept to its definition.

Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.

Concepts

Matches

Connect two VPCs using private IP addresses

Allow private instances to access the internet

Enable communication between VPC and the internet

Stateless firewall for controlling traffic at subnet level

Stateful firewall for controlling traffic at instance level

Why these pairings

A VPC is a logically isolated virtual network. Subnets are subdivisions of the VPC. An Internet Gateway provides internet access to public subnets, while a NAT Gateway provides outbound internet access to private subnets.

Security Groups control instance-level traffic.

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14

MCQeasy

A retail company is migrating its e-commerce platform from a monolith running on a single on-premises server to AWS. The current application consists of a Java-based web server, a MySQL database, and a caching layer using Redis. The company wants to modernize the architecture by adopting microservices, using serverless where possible, and minimizing operational overhead. The migration must be completed within six months with minimal disruption to ongoing operations. The solutions architect proposes the following initial steps: containerize the Java application and run it on Amazon ECS with Fargate, migrate the MySQL database to Amazon Aurora Serverless v2, and replace Redis with Amazon ElastiCache for Redis Serverless. However, the team is concerned about the complexity of the migration and the potential for downtime. Which recommendation should the solutions architect make to address these concerns?

A.Rewrite the entire application as microservices from scratch and deploy them in a new AWS environment. Cut over all traffic at once after testing.

B.Use AWS Blue/Green deployment for the monolith to reduce downtime, then migrate to microservices after the deployment is stable.

C.Use the Strangler Fig pattern to incrementally replace monolith functionality with microservices, routing traffic to new services as they are built.

D.Perform a lift-and-shift migration of the monolith to EC2 instances, then gradually refactor into microservices over the next year.

AnswerC

This pattern allows gradual migration with minimal disruption, aligns with the timeline, and enables modernization in steps.

Why this answer

The Strangler Fig pattern allows the team to incrementally replace specific functionalities of the monolithic e-commerce platform with microservices, routing traffic to the new services as they are built. This minimizes disruption and downtime by avoiding a big-bang cutover, and it aligns with the goal of modernizing to microservices and serverless within the six-month timeline. The pattern leverages an existing ingress controller (e.g., an Application Load Balancer with path-based routing) to gradually shift requests from the monolith to new services running on Amazon ECS with Fargate, while the database and caching layers are migrated separately with minimal impact.

Exam trap

The trap here is that candidates often confuse Blue/Green deployments (which reduce downtime for a single application version) with the Strangler Fig pattern (which is specifically designed for incremental migration from a monolith to microservices), leading them to choose Option B as a safe but incomplete solution.

How to eliminate wrong answers

Option A is wrong because rewriting the entire application from scratch as microservices and performing a single cutover introduces high complexity, significant risk of downtime, and likely exceeds the six-month timeline, contradicting the requirement for minimal disruption. Option B is wrong because Blue/Green deployment for the monolith reduces downtime during deployment but does not address the migration to microservices; it keeps the monolith intact and defers the modernization, failing to meet the goal of adopting microservices and serverless. Option D is wrong because a lift-and-shift to EC2 instances postpones refactoring for over a year, which violates the six-month migration deadline and does not minimize operational overhead, as it retains the monolithic architecture and requires managing EC2 instances.

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15

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a legacy application that uses a proprietary binary protocol over TCP. The application must be migrated with minimal changes and requires high throughput. Which AWS service should the architect recommend for load balancing?

A.Network Load Balancer (NLB)

B.AWS Global Accelerator

C.Application Load Balancer (ALB)

D.Classic Load Balancer (CLB)

AnswerA

NLB operates at Layer 4 and handles TCP traffic with high throughput.

Why this answer

Network Load Balancer (NLB) is designed for TCP traffic at high throughput with minimal latency, making it ideal for migrating legacy applications using proprietary binary protocols over TCP. Option B (AWS Global Accelerator) improves application performance by directing traffic over the AWS global network but is not a load balancer. Option C (Application Load Balancer) operates at Layer 7 and is best for HTTP/HTTPS traffic, not TCP.

Option D (Classic Load Balancer) is a legacy option that lacks the performance and features of NLB.

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16

MCQhard

A CloudFormation stack creation command is run with a parameter. The template.yaml includes a parameter declared as follows: Parameters: InstanceTypeParameter: Type: String Default: t2.micro AllowedValues: - t2.micro - t2.small - t2.medium The stack creation fails with the error: "Value (t2.nano) for parameter InstanceTypeParameter is invalid. Must be one of: t2.micro, t2.small, t2.medium". What is the most likely cause?

A.The AWS CLI is using a deprecated version

B.The template.yaml file was modified after the command was run

C.The parameter was overridden by a previous stack operation or a different parameter file

D.The CLI command had a typo in the parameter value

AnswerD

The error shows 't2.nano', which is not in the allowed list. This directly points to a typo in the command or parameter file where the user inadvertently typed 't2.nano' instead of a valid instance type.

Why this answer

The error message shows that the value 't2.nano' was passed for the parameter. This value is not in the AllowedValues list. The most direct explanation is that the user made a typo in the CLI command or parameter file, supplying 't2.nano' instead of a valid value like 't2.micro'.

While CloudFormation can inherit parameters from previous operations, the specific invalid value 't2.nano' in the error indicates it was provided in the current command, not from an override. Therefore, option D is correct.

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17

MCQeasy

Refer to the exhibit. A company is using an S3 bucket to store migration logs. The company has set a lifecycle policy to transition objects to Glacier after 30 days and expire them after 365 days. After 45 days, the company notices that the objects are still in S3 Standard. What is the most likely reason?

A.The lifecycle policy has a filter that excludes these objects.

B.The objects were created after the lifecycle policy was applied, so they have not reached 30 days of age yet.

C.The lifecycle policy is not enabled for the bucket.

D.The S3 bucket versioning is disabled, so lifecycle rules do not apply.

AnswerB

Lifecycle rules are based on object age.

Why this answer

The lifecycle policy transitions objects based on their creation date (age), not the policy creation date. If the objects were created after the policy was applied, they have not yet reached 30 days of age even though 45 days have passed since policy creation. For example, objects created 20 days ago are only 20 days old and will not transition until they are 30 days old.

Option A is incorrect because while a filter could exclude objects, it is not the most likely reason given no evidence of a filter. Option C is incorrect because the policy is enabled (implied by the exhibit). Option D is incorrect because lifecycle rules apply regardless of versioning state; versioning is not required for transitions.

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18

MCQmedium

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?

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.

AnswerA

ALB sticky sessions route requests to the same instance, but session data is stored externally in ElastiCache, allowing any instance to serve requests.

Why this answer

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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19

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a legacy application from an on-premises data center to AWS. The application uses a proprietary network protocol that is not supported by AWS Application Migration Service. What should the company do to migrate this application?

A.Refactor the application to use standard protocols before migration.

B.Use the 7 Rs migration strategy to evaluate other options.

C.Use AWS Application Migration Service with a network bridge appliance.

D.Perform a manual rehost migration using Amazon EC2 and custom AMIs.

AnswerD

Manual rehost bypasses MGN's limitations.

Why this answer

D is correct because performing a manual rehost migration using Amazon EC2 and custom AMIs allows the company to migrate the legacy application without depending on AWS Application Migration Service (MGN), which does not support the proprietary protocol. This approach replicates the on-premises environment in AWS. A is incorrect because refactoring the application to use standard protocols would require significant code changes and is not necessary for migration.

B is incorrect because the 7 Rs strategy is a framework for evaluating migration approaches, not a specific solution to the protocol incompatibility. C is incorrect because AWS Application Migration Service with a network bridge appliance does not address the lack of support for the proprietary protocol.

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20

Multi-Selecthard

A company is modernizing its monolithic Java application to a microservices architecture on AWS. The application uses a shared Oracle database. The team wants to implement an event-driven architecture. Which TWO AWS services should be used to decouple microservices and handle asynchronous communication?

Select 2 answers

A.AWS AppSync

B.Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)

C.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams

D.Amazon EventBridge

E.Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)

AnswersD, E

Amazon EventBridge enables event-driven architectures by routing events between sources and targets; it is a correct choice for decoupling and asynchronous communication.

Why this answer

Correct answers are D (Amazon EventBridge) and E (Amazon Simple Queue Service - SQS). SQS provides a reliable message queue for decoupling microservices and enabling asynchronous communication. EventBridge allows building event-driven architectures by routing events from various sources to targets.

Option A (AWS AppSync) is for building GraphQL APIs; it does not handle decoupling in an event-driven pattern. Option B (Amazon SNS) is a pub/sub notification service but not primarily for decoupling queues; it can be used for fan-out but not as a queue. Option C (Amazon Kinesis Data Streams) is for real-time streaming data; it is not typically used for simple decoupling of microservices.

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21

Multi-Selecthard

A company is migrating a large number of on-premises VMs to AWS. They need to assess the current environment and track migration progress. Which THREE AWS services should be used together?

Select 3 answers

A.AWS Server Migration Service (SMS)

B.AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

C.AWS Migration Hub

D.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

E.AWS Application Discovery Service

AnswersB, C, E

Automates lift-and-shift migration of VMs.

Why this answer

To assess the current environment and track migration progress for a large number of on-premises VMs, the correct combination is AWS Application Discovery Service (to discover and map dependencies), AWS Migration Hub (to track progress across multiple tools), and AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) (to automate VM migration). Option A (SMS) is deprecated and replaced by MGN. Option D (DMS) is for databases, not VMs.

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22

MCQmedium

A company is moving a legacy application that uses a shared file system to AWS. The application requires POSIX-compliant file storage that can be accessed by multiple EC2 instances simultaneously. Which AWS storage service should they use?

A.Amazon FSx for Windows File Server

B.Amazon EFS

C.Amazon EBS with Multi-Attach

D.Amazon S3

AnswerB

Provides a scalable, POSIX-compliant NFS file system.

Why this answer

(Amazon EFS) is correct because it provides a scalable, POSIX-compliant NFS file system that can be accessed by multiple EC2 instances simultaneously. Option A (Amazon FSx for Windows File Server) uses SMB protocol and is not POSIX-compliant. Option C (Amazon EBS with Multi-Attach) only supports a limited number of instances and has specific constraints, and it is not a fully managed shared file system.

Option D (Amazon S3) is object storage and does not provide POSIX compliance.

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23

Multi-Selecthard

A company is migrating a large-scale e-commerce platform to AWS. The platform uses a MySQL database with a 2 TB dataset. They want to modernize to Amazon Aurora MySQL with minimal downtime. Which THREE steps should they take? (Select THREE.)

Select 2 answers

A.Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to convert the existing schema to Aurora MySQL

B.Set up an Aurora Replica from the source MySQL instance

C.Use Amazon RDS for MySQL instead of Aurora

D.Migrate the database to Amazon DynamoDB

E.Use AWS DMS with ongoing replication using Change Data Capture (CDC)

AnswersA, E

Correct. AWS SCT helps convert the existing MySQL schema to be compatible with Aurora MySQL, addressing any differences in storage engines, partitioning, or other features.

Why this answer

To migrate a large MySQL database to Amazon Aurora MySQL with minimal downtime, the recommended steps are to use AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) to convert the schema to Aurora-compatible format and AWS DMS with ongoing replication using Change Data Capture (CDC) to synchronize data with near-zero downtime. Setting up an Aurora Replica from the source MySQL instance (Option B) is not possible because Aurora Replicas are only within Aurora, not from an external MySQL source. Options C and D are incorrect as they do not target Aurora.

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24

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a legacy Citrix XenApp environment to AWS. The application requires Windows-based virtual desktops for 200 users. Users need to access the desktops from various devices, including thin clients and mobile devices. Which solution is most cost-effective and scalable?

A.Use Amazon AppStream 2.0 to stream the application to users.

B.Launch Amazon EC2 Windows instances and enable Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

C.Deploy Amazon WorkSpaces with Windows-based bundles.

D.Use Amazon WorkDocs for document access and collaboration.

AnswerC

WorkSpaces provides managed virtual desktops accessible from any device.

Why this answer

Amazon WorkSpaces provides fully managed Windows desktops that can be accessed from various devices, making it cost-effective and scalable for 200 users. Option A (Amazon AppStream 2.0) is incorrect because AppStream 2.0 streams individual applications, not full desktops, and is not the best fit for replacing a Citrix XenApp environment that requires full desktops. Option B (EC2 with RDS) is incorrect because while it can provide desktops, it requires manual management of the Remote Desktop Services and is not as scalable or managed as WorkSpaces.

Option D (Amazon WorkDocs) is incorrect as it is a document management and collaboration service, not a desktop virtualization solution.

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25

MCQeasy

A company is modernizing a monolithic application into microservices on Amazon ECS. They want to decouple services and improve resilience. Which AWS service should they use for asynchronous communication between microservices?

A.Amazon SQS

B.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams

C.Amazon API Gateway

D.Amazon SNS

AnswerA

Amazon SQS provides a fully managed message queue for asynchronous communication, decoupling services.

Why this answer

Amazon SQS provides a fully managed message queue for asynchronous communication, decoupling services. Option B (Amazon Kinesis Data Streams) is for streaming data. Option C (Amazon API Gateway) is for synchronous REST APIs.

Option D (Amazon SNS) is pub/sub, not point-to-point queue.

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26

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a batch processing workload to AWS. The workload runs on a schedule and processes large files stored on a network file system. The company wants to use a serverless architecture to reduce costs. Which combination of AWS services should the company use?

A.AWS Step Functions, Amazon EMR, and Amazon EFS.

B.Amazon CloudWatch Events, AWS Lambda, and Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose.

C.AWS Step Functions, AWS Lambda, and Amazon S3.

D.Amazon CloudWatch Events, Amazon EC2, and Amazon EBS.

AnswerC

Step Functions orchestrates Lambda functions, and S3 stores files.

Why this answer

AWS Step Functions can orchestrate the workflow, AWS Lambda can process files in a serverless manner, and Amazon S3 can store the large files. Option A is wrong because Amazon EMR is not a serverless service and EFS is a network file system, not ideal for serverless batch processing. Option B is wrong because Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose is designed for streaming data, not batch processing of large files.

Option D is wrong because Amazon EC2 and EBS are not serverless.

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27

MCQmedium

A company wants to migrate its on-premises Active Directory to AWS Managed Microsoft AD to support Windows-based workloads on AWS. The company has a complex Active Directory structure with multiple domains, group policies, and trusts with external directories. Which migration approach should the company use?

A.Replace Active Directory with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for all authentication

B.Establish a forest trust between the on-premises AD and AWS Managed Microsoft AD, then gradually move resources to AWS

C.Rebuild the entire Active Directory structure from scratch in AWS Managed Microsoft AD

D.Use AD Connector to proxy authentication requests from AWS to the on-premises AD

AnswerB

Correct. A trust allows seamless coexistence and incremental migration.

Why this answer

Setting up a trust between the on-premises AD and AWS Managed Microsoft AD allows gradual migration of resources. This maintains existing authentication and group policies during the transition. Replacing AD with IAM is not suitable for Windows workloads.

Replicating the entire AD structure via AD Connector is not possible. A full rebuild is complex and risky.

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28

MCQeasy

A company is planning to migrate 50 TB of data from on-premises to Amazon S3 over a 100 Mbps internet connection. The data is not time-sensitive and can tolerate some latency. Which migration method is MOST cost-effective and suitable?

A.Use AWS DataSync over the existing internet connection.

B.Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the destination bucket.

C.Use AWS Snowball Edge devices to transfer the data.

D.Provision a 1 Gbps AWS Direct Connect connection.

AnswerC

Cost-effective for large data volumes over slow network.

Why this answer

AWS Snowball Edge is designed for large-scale data transfer when network bandwidth is limited, making it cost-effective for 50 TB over a 100 Mbps link. Option A is wrong because AWS DataSync over the internet would take very long (approximately 46 days) and is not optimal for such a large volume. Option B is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration improves speed via optimized routing but cannot overcome the 100 Mbps bandwidth cap; the transfer would still be slow.

Option D is wrong because a 1 Gbps Direct Connect connection would be significantly more expensive than Snowball Edge, and since the data is not time-sensitive, physical shipment is more suitable.

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29

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a batch processing workload to AWS. The workload runs daily on a single on-premises server and takes 6 hours to complete. The company wants to reduce processing time and cost. Which approach should the solutions architect recommend?

A.Use AWS Batch to run the workload in parallel on multiple compute resources

B.Use AWS Lambda with a 6-hour timeout

C.Use AWS Step Functions to orchestrate the workload sequentially

D.Use a single larger EC2 instance with more vCPUs

AnswerA

Correct: AWS Batch can parallelize the workload to reduce processing time.

Why this answer

AWS Batch can orchestrate parallel processing across multiple EC2 or Fargate resources, reducing time. A single larger instance may not reduce time as much as parallel processing. Lambda has a 15-minute execution limit.

Step Functions alone does not provide compute.

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30

MCQhard

A company is migrating a data warehouse from on-premises to Amazon Redshift. The current workload runs complex queries that join large tables. The company wants to optimize query performance after migration. Which design should the company implement?

A.Use distribution style AUTO and let Redshift decide

B.Use distribution style EVEN on all tables

C.Use distribution style ALL on all large tables

D.Use distribution style KEY on the join columns of large tables

AnswerD

Co-locates rows from different tables on the same node, avoiding data movement.

Why this answer

Distribution style KEY on join columns ensures data is co-located, minimizing data movement. Option A (AUTO) may not use the optimal distribution strategy. Option B (EVEN) distributes rows evenly, which can cause significant data movement across nodes.

Option C (ALL) is not suitable for large tables because it duplicates the entire table on every node, leading to high storage and performance issues.

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31

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a monolithic application to AWS. They want to minimize changes to the application code while taking advantage of AWS managed services. Which migration strategy should they use?

A.Rehost / Lift-and-Shift

B.Repurchase / Drop and Shop

C.Replatform / Lift, Tinker, and Shift

D.Refactor / Re-architect

AnswerA

Moves the application as-is, minimizing code changes.

Why this answer

(Rehost / Lift-and-Shift) is correct because it involves moving the application as-is to AWS, typically using services like EC2, without requiring any code changes. This minimizes changes while leveraging AWS managed services. Option B (Repurchase) replaces the application with a SaaS solution, which is not what the company wants.

Option C (Replatform) involves some optimization but still requires changes. Option D (Refactor) requires significant code changes to re-architect the application.

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32

MCQmedium

Refer to the exhibit. A company is migrating an application to AWS and has attached the IAM policy shown to an IAM role. The application runs on an EC2 instance and needs to upload files to an S3 bucket. However, the uploads are failing with an access denied error. What is the most likely cause?

A.The IAM policy does not allow the s3:PutObject action

B.The IAM policy uses an incorrect resource ARN

C.The IAM policy restricts access based on source IP, but the EC2 instance's public IP is not in the allowed range

D.The S3 bucket policy denies access from the instance

AnswerC

Correct: The IP condition is likely blocking the instance.

Why this answer

The IAM policy explicitly allows s3:PutObject, so option A is incorrect. The resource ARN is correctly formatted as arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*, ruling out option B. The policy includes a condition (aws:SourceIp) that restricts access to the IP range 203.0.113.0/24.

The EC2 instance's public IP may not fall within this range, causing the access denied error, making option C correct. Option D is incorrect because there is no indication of a bucket policy; the deny is due to the IAM policy's IP restriction.

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33

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a legacy application to AWS. The application runs on a single Windows Server instance and uses a local MySQL database. The company wants to minimize changes to the application code. Which migration strategy should the company use?

A.Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 with MySQL installed on the same instance

B.Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS alternative

C.Refactor the application to use a serverless architecture with AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB

D.Replatform the application by moving the database to Amazon RDS for MySQL

AnswerA

Rehosting moves the application without changes, minimizing risk.

Why this answer

Rehost (lift-and-shift) migrates the application as-is to EC2, keeping MySQL on the same instance to minimize code changes. Option B (Retire) is not a migration strategy. Option C (Refactor) requires code changes to adapt to serverless and DynamoDB.

Option D (Replatform) moves the database to RDS, which may require code changes due to different database configuration or features.

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34

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a multi-tier web application to AWS. The application consists of a web tier, an application tier, and a database tier. The company wants to use AWS services to improve scalability and reduce management overhead. The web and application tiers run on Linux. The database is Oracle running on Linux. Which solution meets these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?

A.Deploy web and application tiers on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. Migrate the database to an Amazon RDS for Oracle DB instance.

B.Containerize the web and application tiers and deploy them on Amazon ECS with AWS Fargate. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS for Oracle.

C.Deploy the web and application tiers using AWS Elastic Beanstalk with an Auto Scaling group. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS for Oracle.

D.Deploy web and application tiers on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. Migrate the database to Oracle on Amazon RDS Custom.

AnswerC

Elastic Beanstalk automates capacity provisioning, load balancing, and scaling, reducing operational overhead.

Why this answer

AWS Elastic Beanstalk automatically manages the capacity provisioning, load balancing, and scaling of the web and application tiers, significantly reducing management overhead. Amazon RDS for Oracle handles database administration tasks such as patching, backups, and replication. Option A (EC2 + Auto Scaling) requires manual configuration and management of EC2 instances, increasing operational overhead.

Option B (ECS with Fargate) introduces containerization complexity that is not necessary for a straightforward migration and may require additional learning and orchestration. Option D (RDS Custom) provides more customization but at the cost of increased operational overhead compared to standard RDS. Therefore, Option C offers the least operational overhead.

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35

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a web application to AWS. They want to use the same domain name for both the development and production environments, but route traffic based on the source IP address. Which AWS service can accomplish this?

A.Amazon Route 53 with geolocation routing policy

B.Elastic Load Balancer (ELB)

C.AWS Global Accelerator

D.Amazon CloudFront

AnswerA

Route 53 can route based on the geographic location of the client's IP.

Why this answer

Amazon Route 53 with geolocation routing policy allows you to route traffic based on the geographic location of the source IP address, which meets the requirement of using the same domain name for different environments based on client IP. ELB distributes traffic within a region and does not consider source IP for routing. AWS Global Accelerator uses anycast IPs and cannot route based on source IP.

Amazon CloudFront is a CDN that can cache content but cannot route based on source IP at the DNS level.

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36

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy Windows-based .NET application to AWS. The application uses a SQL Server database and a proprietary authentication mechanism that relies on Active Directory. The company wants to reduce operational overhead and licensing costs. Which combination of AWS services should the architect recommend for the migration?

A.Migrate the application to Amazon EC2 Linux instances and use Amazon Aurora with PostgreSQL compatibility

B.Migrate the application to Amazon EC2 Windows instances and the database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server

C.Containerize the application on Amazon ECS with Windows containers and use Amazon RDS for SQL Server

D.Migrate the application to AWS Elastic Beanstalk for Windows and the database to Amazon RDS for MySQL

AnswerB

This minimizes changes and reduces database overhead and licensing costs through RDS.

Why this answer

Using EC2 for the application (lift-and-shift) and RDS for SQL Server reduces overhead from database management and licensing. Moving to RDS for MySQL would require code changes for compatibility. Moving to Windows containers would require containerization effort.

Moving to Aurora would not support SQL Server.

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37

MCQhard

A company is modernizing its application by migrating from a monolithic architecture to microservices on Amazon ECS Fargate. The application uses an on-premises Oracle database, which is being migrated to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL as part of the modernization. The team has refactored the application into several microservices, each with its own database schema in the same Aurora cluster. During load testing, the team notices that one microservice's heavy write operations cause increased latency for other microservices' read queries. The Aurora cluster uses a single writer and multiple readers. The team needs to isolate the write-heavy microservice without changing the application code. What should the solutions architect do?

A.Use Amazon RDS Proxy to manage database connections.

B.Create a separate Aurora cluster for the write-heavy microservice and point the microservice to that cluster.

C.Configure Aurora read replicas to offload read queries from the writer.

D.Increase the instance size of the Aurora writer to handle the write load.

AnswerB

A separate cluster provides complete isolation of write operations.

Why this answer

Using a separate Aurora cluster for the write-heavy microservice physically isolates the workload, preventing impact on other microservices. The application code points to different cluster endpoints. Using a larger instance might help but does not isolate; read replicas do not help with write contention; RDS Proxy is for connection pooling, not isolation.

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38

MCQeasy

An organization is modernizing a legacy application by breaking it into microservices on AWS. The application processes customer orders and sends notifications. The team wants to decouple the order processing from the notification service to improve scalability. Which AWS service should they use to asynchronously pass messages between the services?

A.Amazon Kinesis Data Streams

B.Amazon EventBridge

C.Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)

D.Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS)

AnswerD

SQS provides a durable message queue that decouples the order processing service from the notification service, allowing asynchronous processing.

Why this answer

Amazon SQS is a fully managed message queue service that enables decoupling of application components. SNS is pub/sub; EventBridge is event bus; Kinesis is for real-time streaming. For simple point-to-point async messaging, SQS is the best fit.

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39

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy application that uses a proprietary binary protocol over TCP. They want to modernize to a containerized microservices architecture on Amazon EKS. The protocol must be preserved for backward compatibility. Which approach should they take?

A.Use Amazon API Gateway to expose the legacy service as a REST API

B.Deploy a sidecar proxy container in the same pod to translate the protocol

C.Refactor the legacy application to use HTTP

D.Use a Network Load Balancer to route TCP traffic to the legacy container

AnswerB

Correct approach. The sidecar can handle the proprietary protocol and translate it to HTTP for other microservices while preserving backward compatibility.

Why this answer

A sidecar proxy running on the same pod as the legacy container can handle the proprietary protocol and translate it to HTTP for other microservices. Option A (API Gateway) requires HTTP, which is not suitable. Option C (Refactor the protocol) is too risky and time-consuming.

Option D (Network Load Balancer) cannot translate protocols; it only forwards TCP traffic at layer 4.

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40

Multi-Selecteasy

A company is migrating a large number of on-premises virtual machines to AWS. The company wants to automate the migration process and reduce manual effort. Which TWO AWS services can be used together to achieve this goal? (Choose TWO.)

Select 2 answers

A.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

B.AWS CloudFormation

C.AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

D.AWS DataSync

E.AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)

AnswersB, C

CloudFormation automates infrastructure deployment.

Why this answer

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) and AWS CloudFormation are correct. MGN automates the migration of virtual machines from on-premises to AWS. CloudFormation automates the provisioning of AWS infrastructure using infrastructure as code.

AWS DMS is for database migrations, not server migration. AWS DataSync is for file transfers. AWS SCT is for schema conversion.

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41

MCQmedium

A company is modernizing its infrastructure by moving from EC2 instances to a serverless architecture using AWS Lambda. The application processes images uploaded to Amazon S3. The current EC2-based solution uses a third-party image processing library that is not supported in Lambda's runtime environment. What is the best approach to migrate to serverless while using the same library?

A.Package the library as a Lambda layer and reference it in the function.

B.Use AWS Fargate to run the image processing library in a container.

C.Rewrite the image processing code to use AWS Rekognition.

D.Use AWS App Runner to deploy the existing application as-is.

AnswerA

Lambda layers allow inclusion of custom libraries, enabling use of the third-party library without code changes.

Why this answer

AWS Lambda supports custom runtime environments by bundling the library with the deployment package or using Lambda layers. The library can be included as a layer, allowing the Lambda function to use it. AWS Fargate runs containers but is not serverless in the same sense; it adds overhead.

Using a different library would require code changes. App Runner is for containerized applications.

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42

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a monolithic application to AWS and wants to adopt a microservices architecture. The application currently runs on a single server and uses a shared MySQL database. Which AWS service can help the company decouple the microservices and enable asynchronous communication?

A.Amazon API Gateway

B.AWS Step Functions

C.Elastic Load Balancing

D.Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)

AnswerD

Amazon SQS is a message queue service that enables asynchronous communication, making it ideal for decoupling microservices.

Why this answer

Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) is a message queue service that enables asynchronous communication between microservices, which is essential for decoupling components in a microservices architecture. Amazon API Gateway is used for creating RESTful APIs, not for asynchronous messaging. AWS Step Functions orchestrates workflows but does not provide a message queue for asynchronous communication.

Elastic Load Balancing distributes incoming traffic across targets, not for decoupling services via messaging.

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43

MCQhard

Refer to the exhibit. A solutions architect runs the AWS CLI command and receives the output shown. The instance was stopped 2 hours ago. The company wants to minimize costs. What should the architect do next?

A.Keep the instance stopped; only storage costs apply.

B.Terminate the instance to avoid any further charges.

C.Start the instance to verify it works.

D.Hibernate the instance to save memory state.

AnswerA

Correct. A stopped instance does not incur instance charges, only storage costs for EBS volumes.

Why this answer

When an EC2 instance is stopped, you are not charged for instance usage hours, but you continue to pay for any attached EBS volumes. Thus, keeping the instance stopped minimizes costs while retaining the instance configuration and data. Option B (terminate) would delete the instance and its attached volumes, potentially incurring data loss and additional costs for snapshots.

Option C (start) would resume instance charges and EBS volume costs. Option D (hibernate) is not available from a stopped state; hibernation can only be initiated from a running instance and saves the memory state to an EBS volume, but it also incurs charges for that volume.

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44

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. The application currently runs on a single Windows Server with IIS and SQL Server. The company wants to adopt a microservices architecture on AWS using containers. The development team has containerized the application into several Docker containers. The company needs a solution that minimizes operational overhead for managing the container orchestration and scaling, and also integrates with AWS services like IAM, CloudWatch, and VPC. Which AWS service should the company use to run the containers?

A.Amazon ECS with the Fargate launch type.

B.Amazon EKS with managed node groups.

C.AWS Elastic Beanstalk with a Docker platform.

D.Amazon EC2 instances with Docker installed, managed by an Auto Scaling group.

AnswerA

Fargate is serverless, reducing operational overhead, and integrates well with AWS services.

Why this answer

(Amazon ECS with the Fargate launch type) is correct because it provides serverless container orchestration, eliminating the need to manage underlying infrastructure, integrates natively with AWS services like IAM, CloudWatch, and VPC, and is ideal for microservices. Option B (EKS with managed node groups) still requires managing Kubernetes control plane and worker nodes, adding operational overhead. Option C (Elastic Beanstalk with Docker) is better suited for simpler, single-container deployments and lacks fine-grained control for microservices.

Option D (EC2 instances with Docker and Auto Scaling) requires managing EC2 instances, patching, and scaling, increasing operational burden.

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45

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a critical application to AWS and needs to ensure that the migration has minimal downtime. The application uses a SQL Server database. The company wants to use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for the migration. What should the company do to minimize downtime during the database migration?

A.Use DMS with validation enabled and then truncate the target before cutover.

B.Use DMS with ongoing replication (change data capture) to keep the target database synchronized, then perform a brief cutover.

C.Use DMS with full load only and schedule the migration during a maintenance window.

D.Perform a full load migration using DMS and then manually copy any remaining data.

AnswerB

Ongoing replication minimizes downtime by continuously syncing changes.

Why this answer

Using change data capture (CDC) with AWS DMS enables ongoing replication of changes from the source SQL Server database to the target. This keeps the target nearly synchronized, so during cutover only a brief pause is needed to apply any final changes, minimizing downtime. Option A is incorrect because enabling validation does not reduce downtime; it only verifies data integrity after migration, and truncating the target before cutover would remove all data, causing potential data loss and additional downtime.

Option C is incorrect because a full load only captures a snapshot of the database at a point in time; any changes after that require a separate sync, leading to longer downtime. Option D is incorrect because manually copying remaining data after a full load migration defeats the purpose of using DMS and introduces significant downtime and risk of inconsistency.

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46

MCQhard

A company is migrating a large-scale .NET application to AWS. The application uses Windows authentication and requires Active Directory integration. The company wants to reduce operational overhead. Which migration approach should they use?

A.Rehost on EC2 with on-premises AD via VPN

B.Rehost on EC2 with AWS Managed Microsoft AD

C.Replatform to use Amazon Cognito for authentication

D.Replatform to AWS Elastic Beanstalk with Amazon Lightsail

AnswerB

Reduces overhead by outsourcing AD management to AWS.

Why this answer

(Rehost on EC2 with AWS Managed Microsoft AD) is correct because it provides Active Directory integration without the need to manage domain controllers, reducing operational overhead. Option A (Rehost on EC2 with on-premises AD via VPN) still requires managing on-premises resources and doesn't fully reduce overhead. Option C (Replatform to use Amazon Cognito) is aimed at web identity federation, not traditional Windows AD authentication.

Option D (Replatform to AWS Elastic Beanstalk with Amazon Lightsail) does not support Windows authentication or AD integration effectively.

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47

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy .NET application to AWS. The application uses Windows authentication and connects to an on-premises SQL Server database. The company wants to minimize code changes. Which migration strategy is most appropriate?

A.Replatform the application to use Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL with AWS DMS.

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

C.Rehost the application on EC2 Windows instances and use Amazon RDS for SQL Server.

D.Re-platform the application to run on Amazon Linux and use Amazon RDS for MySQL.

AnswerC

Rehosting minimizes code changes and supports Windows authentication.

Why this answer

Rehosting on EC2 Windows with RDS SQL Server minimizes changes and supports Windows authentication. Option A is wrong because re-platforming to Linux may break .NET dependencies. Option B is wrong because refactoring to serverless requires significant code changes.

Option D is wrong because moving to Aurora PostgreSQL requires code changes.

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48

Multi-Selectmedium

A company is migrating a legacy application to Amazon ECS. The application has a stateful component that stores data on the local filesystem. Which TWO storage options can be used to persist data beyond the lifecycle of the container?

Select 2 answers

A.Amazon EBS

B.Amazon ECS Fargate ephemeral storage

C.Amazon ECR

D.Amazon S3

E.Amazon EFS

AnswersA, E

Correct. Amazon EBS volumes provide persistent block storage that can be attached to EC2 instances running ECS tasks, surviving container restarts.

Why this answer

Options A (Amazon EBS) and E (Amazon EFS) are correct. Amazon EBS volumes can be attached to EC2 instances running ECS tasks (EC2 launch type) and persist beyond the container lifecycle. Amazon EFS provides a shared file system that can be mounted by containers, including Fargate tasks, and data persists after the container stops.

Option B (Fargate ephemeral storage) is incorrect because it is temporary and lost when the container stops. Option C (Amazon ECR) is a container registry, not a storage option. Option D (Amazon S3) is object storage, not a filesystem suitable for direct attachment to containers.

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49

MCQeasy

A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application currently runs on a Windows Server with a SQL Server database. The company wants to minimize changes to the application code. Which migration strategy should the company use?

A.Rehost (lift-and-shift)

B.Refactor / re-architect

C.Replatform (lift-and-resize)

D.Rebuild

AnswerA

Correct. Rehosting moves the application to AWS with minimal changes.

Why this answer

Rehosting (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application as-is to AWS, minimizing code changes. Replatforming (lift-and-resize) may involve some changes, but rehosting requires the least modification. Refactoring and rebuilding involve significant changes.

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50

MCQhard

A company is migrating a large-scale Hadoop cluster to Amazon EMR. The migration plan includes moving data from HDFS to Amazon S3. The company wants to minimize costs and ensure data durability. Which approach should the company use?

A.Set up a VPN connection and use rsync to copy data to S3.

B.Use Apache DistCp to copy data from HDFS to S3.

C.Use AWS Snowball Edge to physically transfer data from the cluster.

D.Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate the data to S3.

AnswerB

DistCp is the standard tool for copying between HDFS and S3.

Why this answer

B is correct because DistCp is designed for efficient HDFS-to-S3 transfers, and S3's 99.999999999% durability meets requirements. A is wrong because VPN and rsync are not optimized for large-scale data transfer to S3. C is wrong because Snowball Edge adds latency and is not necessary for data already in the cluster.

D is wrong because AWS DMS is for databases, not file systems.

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51

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application uses a proprietary database that runs on a single Windows server. The company wants to minimize downtime and avoid re-architecting the database. Which migration strategy should the solutions architect recommend?

A.Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS solution

B.Rehost using AWS Application Migration Service (CloudEndure)

C.Re-architect the application to use Amazon DynamoDB

D.Replatform by migrating the database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server

AnswerB

Correct: Allows lift-and-shift with minimal downtime and no changes to the database.

Why this answer

Rehost (lift-and-shift) is the best option because it moves the application without changes, minimizing downtime and avoiding re-architecture. Replatforming would require some changes, and re-architecting would involve significant rework. Retire is not applicable.

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52

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a stateful application to AWS. The application uses local storage for temporary data that must survive instance restarts but not region failures. Which storage solution should the company use?

A.Amazon EBS

B.Instance Store

C.Amazon S3

D.Amazon EFS

AnswerB

Ephemeral storage that persists across reboots.

Why this answer

Instance Store provides ephemeral block storage that persists across instance reboots but is lost if the instance is stopped or terminated. This matches the requirement for temporary data that survives restarts but not region failures. Option A (Amazon EBS) survives stops, which is unnecessary.

Option C (Amazon S3) is object storage, not temporary local storage. Option D (Amazon EFS) is a network file system, not local storage.

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53

MCQhard

A company is migrating a mission-critical application to AWS. The application requires a fixed IP address for whitelisting by external partners. The company plans to use an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to distribute traffic. However, ALB does not support static IP addresses. How can the company meet the requirement for static IP addresses while using the ALB?

A.Replace the ALB with a Network Load Balancer (NLB) that has Elastic IP addresses

B.Use AWS Global Accelerator with the ALB as an endpoint

C.Use Amazon Route 53 with a failover routing policy

D.Assign Elastic IP addresses to the ALB

AnswerB

Global Accelerator provides static IP addresses and routes traffic to the ALB.

Why this answer

Using AWS Global Accelerator provides static anycast IP addresses and directs traffic to the ALB, meeting the requirement for fixed IP whitelisting. Option A (replacing with NLB) would avoid the ALB entirely and may not be suitable for application-level traffic. Option C (Route 53 failover) does not provide static IP addresses for whitelisting.

Option D (assigning Elastic IP to ALB) is not supported.

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54

Multi-Selecthard

A company is migrating a stateful application that uses local disks for caching to AWS. The application requires high-performance, low-latency storage that can be attached to a single EC2 instance. Which THREE AWS services or features should the company consider for the cache storage?

Select 3 answers

A.Amazon EBS io2 Block Express

B.Amazon EFS

C.Instance store

D.Local NVMe instance store

E.Amazon S3

AnswersA, C, D

io2 Block Express provides high-performance persistent block storage for a single instance.

Why this answer

The correct answers are A (Amazon EBS io2 Block Express), C (Instance store), and D (Local NVMe instance store). EBS io2 Block Express provides high-performance, persistent block storage that can be attached to a single EC2 instance. Instance store offers high-performance, low-latency local storage but is ephemeral.

Local NVMe instance store is a type of instance store using NVMe SSDs for even higher performance. Option B (Amazon EFS) is a shared file system, not suitable for a single instance's cache. Option E (Amazon S3) is object storage, not designed for low-latency block-level access.

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55

MCQmedium

Refer to the exhibit. A company creates this CloudFormation stack. After 30 days, what happens to objects with the prefix 'logs/'?

A.They are deleted because of the lifecycle rule.

B.They remain in Standard storage because versioning is enabled.

C.They are deleted after 30 days because no expiration is defined.

D.They are moved to the GLACIER storage class.

AnswerD

Correct, as the transition action moves objects to GLACIER after 30 days.

Why this answer

The lifecycle rule in the CloudFormation template specifies a transition to GLACIER after 30 days for objects with the prefix 'logs/'. Therefore, after 30 days, those objects are moved to GLACIER. Option A is incorrect because the lifecycle rule is set to transition, not delete.

Option B is incorrect because versioning does not prevent lifecycle transitions. Option C is incorrect because expiration is not required for transition; the transition action moves objects to GLACIER after 30 days.

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56

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy application to AWS using the rehost (lift-and-shift) strategy. The application uses a proprietary database that is not supported by Amazon RDS. The company wants to automate the migration of multiple servers and minimize downtime. Which AWS service should be used to automate the server migration?

A.AWS CloudFormation to recreate the server configuration.

B.AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN).

C.AWS Server Migration Service (SMS).

D.AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) for the database and manual server migration.

AnswerB

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) automates lift-and-shift with minimal downtime.

Why this answer

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) automates lift-and-shift with minimal downtime. Option A is wrong because AWS CloudFormation is for infrastructure provisioning, not migration. Option C is wrong because AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) is older and less automated compared to MGN.

Option D is wrong because AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is for databases, not servers.

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57

MCQhard

A company is migrating its on-premises data center to AWS. The company has over 200 applications, each with varying dependencies. The migration team wants to use AWS Migration Hub to track the migration progress. Which approach should the team take to ensure successful tracking and minimize manual effort?

A.Use Amazon CloudWatch dashboards to monitor the health of on-premises servers.

B.Use AWS Systems Manager to automate the migration of each application.

C.Use AWS Application Discovery Service to discover dependencies and then use AWS Migration Hub to track the migration of each application.

D.Manually create a spreadsheet of all applications and their dependencies, and update it weekly.

AnswerC

Application Discovery Service automates discovery, and Migration Hub provides a central tracking dashboard.

Why this answer

AWS Application Discovery Service helps discover dependencies and collect data about on-premises servers, which is used to create a migration plan. AWS Migration Hub then tracks the migration progress of each application across multiple tools, automating tracking and minimizing manual effort. Option A is incorrect because Amazon CloudWatch dashboards monitor resource health but do not track migration progress or dependencies.

Option B is incorrect because AWS Systems Manager is for operational management, not specifically for migration tracking. Option D is incorrect because manual spreadsheets are error-prone and require significant effort, defeating the purpose of using AWS tools for automation.

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58

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a critical application to AWS. The application requires a relational database with high availability and automated failover. The company wants to use a fully managed database service. Which AWS service should the architect choose?

A.Amazon RDS Multi-AZ

B.Amazon ElastiCache

C.Amazon DynamoDB

D.Amazon RDS Single-AZ

AnswerA

RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability with automatic failover.

Why this answer

Amazon RDS Multi-AZ provides high availability with automated failover. Amazon Aurora is also fully managed and provides high availability, but the question asks for a relational database service; both RDS and Aurora are valid, but RDS Multi-AZ is a direct fit for the requirement. DynamoDB is NoSQL.

RDS Single-AZ does not provide failover. ElastiCache is for caching.

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59

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a legacy application that uses a third-party identity provider (IdP) for authentication. The application currently uses SAML 2.0. The company wants to use AWS IAM Identity Center for centralized access management. What is the best approach to integrate the IdP with AWS?

A.Use AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory to synchronize with the IdP

B.Create IAM users for each employee and assign groups and permissions

C.Configure IAM Identity Center to use the existing IdP as the identity source via SAML 2.0 federation

D.Use Amazon Cognito user pools with the IdP as a SAML identity provider

AnswerC

IAM Identity Center supports SAML 2.0 federation with external IdPs.

Why this answer

AWS IAM Identity Center supports SAML 2.0 federation with external identity providers (IdPs). This allows centralized access management without duplicating identities. Option A is incorrect because AWS Directory Service for Microsoft AD is for Active Directory synchronization, not generic SAML federation.

Option B is incorrect because creating IAM users for every employee would duplicate identities and increase administrative overhead. Option D is incorrect because Amazon Cognito user pools are designed for customer-facing applications, not for enterprise SSO with existing IdPs.

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60

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a large-scale e-commerce platform from on-premises to AWS. The migration plan includes rehosting the application servers and replatforming the database to Amazon Aurora. The company needs to ensure minimal downtime during the cutover. Which strategy should the company use for the database migration?

A.Use AWS DMS with a full load and ongoing replication to keep the target synchronized

B.Use AWS DMS with a full load only, then cut over

C.Use an application-level dual-write to both databases during the cutover

D.Take a snapshot of the on-premises database and restore it to Amazon Aurora

AnswerA

Correct. Ongoing replication reduces downtime during cutover.

Why this answer

AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication allows continuous data sync, enabling a cutover with minimal downtime. Using a snapshot backup requires downtime for restoration. AWS DMS with full load only does not keep the target up-to-date.

Using an application-level dual-write is complex and error-prone.

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61

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a critical application to AWS and needs to ensure business continuity. The application must be able to fail over to a different AWS Region with a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 15 minutes and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 minute. Which strategy should the company use?

A.Warm standby in another Region

B.Multi-Region active-active deployment with synchronous replication

C.Pilot light in another Region

D.Backup and restore to another Region

AnswerA

Warm standby can achieve RTO of 15 minutes and RPO of 1 minute by maintaining a scaled-down environment in another Region with continuous replication. Correct answer.

Why this answer

Warm standby in another Region is the best strategy to achieve RTO of 15 minutes and RPO of 1 minute. A warm standby involves running a scaled-down version of the production environment in another Region, which can be quickly scaled up during failover. This approach allows for continuous data replication, typically with asynchronous replication that can achieve an RPO of 1 minute, and failover within minutes, meeting the 15-minute RTO.

Multi-Region active-active with synchronous replication is often impractical across long distances due to latency and cost, and synchronous replication typically requires both Regions to be active, which is complex and not necessary for this requirement. Pilot light has longer RTO (typically 10-30 minutes or more) and backup and restore has much higher RTO and RPO.

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62

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a legacy on-premises .NET application to AWS. The application uses Windows Authentication and relies on Active Directory. The company wants to minimize code changes. Which solution should the architect recommend?

A.Use AWS Systems Manager to store credentials and inject them at runtime.

B.Migrate the application to Amazon WorkDocs and configure single sign-on.

C.Use Amazon Cognito user pools for authentication.

D.Deploy the application on Amazon EC2 instances joined to an AWS Managed Microsoft AD directory.

AnswerD

EC2 instances joined to Managed AD can use Windows Authentication with minimal changes.

Why this answer

Deploy the application on Amazon EC2 instances joined to an AWS Managed Microsoft AD directory. This allows the application to use Windows Authentication with minimal code changes because the EC2 instances are domain-joined, enabling the application to authenticate users against Active Directory as it did on-premises. Option A is incorrect because AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store or Secrets Manager can store credentials but does not provide Windows Authentication integration.

Option B is incorrect because Amazon WorkDocs is a document sharing service, not a compute platform. Option C is incorrect because Amazon Cognito user pools are designed for external user identities, not for Windows Authentication against Active Directory.

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63

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a large .NET application to AWS. The application uses Windows authentication and integrates with Active Directory. The company wants to minimize operational overhead for the directory service. The on-premises Active Directory is already synchronized to AWS using AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory. During migration, the application fails to authenticate users. The security team confirms that the on-premises AD and AWS Managed AD are in sync. The application is running on EC2 instances that are joined to the AWS Managed AD domain. The application logs show authentication errors. What is the most likely cause of the authentication failure?

A.The application requires NTLM authentication, which is disabled by default.

B.The security group does not allow traffic on port 389 (LDAP).

C.The EC2 instances cannot resolve the domain controller DNS name.

D.The application is using a service account that is not in the AWS Managed AD.

AnswerD

Common cause: service account not migrated or created.

Why this answer

The most likely cause is that the application is using a service account that is not present in AWS Managed AD. While the on-premises AD is synchronized, the specific service account may not have been replicated or may have been excluded from synchronization. Without the correct service account, Windows authentication will fail.

NTLM is enabled by default in AWS Managed AD, so option A is incorrect. The security group must allow LDAP traffic (port 389) for domain-joined instances; if instances are joined, this is already configured, making option B unlikely. EC2 instances must resolve the domain controller DNS to join the domain; since they are joined, DNS resolution is working, so option C is incorrect.

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64

MCQmedium

A migration engineer is using AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) to migrate a Windows server from on-premises. The engineer runs the command above and sees the source server is in the "READY_FOR_TEST" state. What should the engineer do next?

A.Launch a test instance to validate the migration

B.Perform the cutover to the AWS environment

C.Modify the source server's recommended instance type to a smaller size

D.Resume data replication from the source server

AnswerA

Correct. Testing is the standard next step after initial replication.

Why this answer

The READY_FOR_TEST state indicates the initial replication is complete and a test instance can be launched. The next step is to launch a test instance to validate the migration. Cutting over immediately without testing is risky.

Resuming data replication is for troubleshooting. Checking the recommended instance type is optional but not the next required step.

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65

MCQeasy

A retail company is migrating its on-premises e-commerce application to AWS. The application currently runs on a single server with a MySQL database. The company wants to minimize operational overhead and improve scalability. Which migration strategy should be used?

A.Re-platform the application to use AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon RDS.

B.Repurchase a new SaaS-based e-commerce solution.

C.Refactor the application as microservices on Amazon ECS with Amazon Aurora Serverless.

D.Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 and use Amazon RDS for MySQL.

AnswerD

Rehosting is quick and reduces operational overhead via RDS.

Why this answer

(Rehost) is the best migration strategy for this scenario because it involves lifting and shifting the application to Amazon EC2 with minimal changes, and using Amazon RDS for MySQL reduces operational overhead for database management. Rehosting is the fastest approach and aligns with the goal of minimizing operational overhead while improving scalability through managed services. Option A (Re-platform) would require modifications to use Elastic Beanstalk, increasing effort.

Option B (Repurchase) involves switching to a new SaaS solution, which is not a migration of the existing application. Option C (Refactor) requires significant development to convert to microservices, which is high effort and not necessary for the stated goals.

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66

MCQmedium

A company is migrating a monolithic e-commerce application to AWS. The application currently runs on a single on-premises server running Windows Server and SQL Server. The company wants to minimize re-architecting effort and time to migrate. Which migration strategy should the company use?

A.Retire the application and replace it with a SaaS solution

B.Refactor the application to use microservices on Amazon ECS

C.Rehost the application on Amazon EC2 Windows instances with SQL Server

D.Replatform the application to use Amazon RDS for SQL Server

AnswerC

Rehosting moves the application as-is, minimizing effort and time.

Why this answer

Rehost (lift-and-shift) involves moving the application as-is to AWS, minimizing changes and time. Option A (Retire) is not appropriate because the application is still needed. Option B (Refactor) requires significant re-architecting.

Option D (Replatform) involves some optimization but still requires changes.

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67

MCQmedium

A company is using the 7 Rs strategy to migrate a monolithic application to AWS. They want to move the application to the cloud without modifying the code but plan to later refactor parts of it. Which migration strategy should they choose initially?

A.Relocate

B.Refactor

C.Replatform

D.Rehost

AnswerD

Rehost moves the application without code changes, allowing future refactoring.

Why this answer

Rehost (lift-and-shift) is the correct initial strategy because it moves the application to AWS without modifying any code, aligning with the company's goal to first migrate without changes and later refactor. Relocate (A) involves moving the hypervisor, not the application itself. Refactor (B) involves rewriting or re-architecting the application, which is not desired initially.

Replatform (C) involves making some cloud optimizations that could require minor code changes.

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68

MCQmedium

A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database is 2 TB in size and the company has a 1 Gbps AWS Direct Connect connection. They need to minimize downtime. Which approach should the solutions architect recommend?

A.Export the database using Oracle Data Pump and import into RDS

B.Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer the database files and then restore to RDS

C.Use AWS Schema Conversion Tool to convert the schema and AWS DMS for data migration without CDC

D.Use AWS DMS with full load followed by ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC)

AnswerD

Correct: DMS with CDC minimizes downtime by replicating changes continuously.

Why this answer

AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with change data capture (CDC) allows continuous replication and minimal downtime. Export/import would cause downtime. AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) is for schema conversion, not data migration.

Snowball is for offline data transfer and would delay the process.

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69

MCQhard

A company is migrating a 5 TB Microsoft SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. The migration must have minimal downtime. The team uses AWS DMS with ongoing replication. During the full load, the task fails with an error indicating that the source server's transaction log is full. What should the team do to resolve this issue?

A.Stop the DMS task, take a native backup of the source, restore it to RDS, and then start DMS with ongoing replication.

B.Increase the source server's transaction log size and set the log retention to a higher value.

C.Pause the DMS task, create a larger source instance, and restart the task.

D.Switch the DMS task to use batch-optimized apply mode.

AnswerB

This gives DMS more time to capture changes without filling the log.

Why this answer

The error indicates the source transaction log is full during the full load phase of AWS DMS. Increasing the transaction log size and setting a higher log retention value prevents the log from filling up while DMS reads it for ongoing replication. This allows the full load to complete without interruption, addressing the root cause directly.

Exam trap

The trap here is that candidates may confuse the transaction log full error with a performance issue, leading them to choose options like resizing the instance or changing apply mode, rather than addressing the log space directly.

How to eliminate wrong answers

Option A is wrong because taking a native backup and restoring to RDS bypasses DMS's ongoing replication setup, requiring manual configuration and potentially causing data loss or inconsistency; it also does not resolve the transaction log issue on the source. Option C is wrong because pausing the task and resizing the source instance does not address the transaction log being full; it only changes compute resources, not log management. Option D is wrong because batch-optimized apply mode affects how DMS applies changes to the target, not how it reads the source transaction log; it does not prevent the log from filling up.

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70

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to AWS. The application has tightly coupled components and high latency between them. The company wants to modernize the application into a microservices architecture. Which migration strategy should the company use?

A.Repurchase

B.Rehost

C.Refactor / Re-architect

D.Replatform

AnswerC

This strategy changes the application architecture to microservices.

Why this answer

The refactor/re-architect strategy involves re-architecting the application into microservices. Option A is wrong because repurchase involves buying a new product, not re-architecting. Option B is wrong because rehost (lift-and-shift) does not modernize.

Option D is wrong because replatform (lift-tinker-and-shift) makes minor optimizations but does not change architecture.

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71

MCQeasy

A company has a legacy application that runs on Windows Server 2008 R2 on-premises. The application is no longer supported by the vendor, but the company still needs to run it for compliance reasons. They are migrating to AWS and want to minimize changes. What should the solutions architect recommend?

A.Refactor the application to run on a supported Windows Server version

B.Upgrade to Windows Server 2019 and use AWS License Manager

C.Replace the application with a SaaS alternative

D.Use an Amazon EC2 instance with a Windows Server 2008 R2 BYOL AMI

AnswerD

Correct: Allows the legacy OS to run as-is, minimizing changes.

Why this answer

Using a Windows Server 2008 R2 BYOL AMI allows the company to run the legacy OS without changes. AWS does not provide mainstream support for 2008 R2, but BYOL allows it. Refactoring or replacing the application would require changes.

Upgrading the OS might break the application.

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72

Multi-Selecteasy

Which TWO AWS services can be used together to automate the discovery and migration of on-premises servers to AWS? (Choose two.)

Select 2 answers

A.AWS DataSync

B.AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

C.AWS Server Migration Service (SMS)

D.AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

E.AWS Application Discovery Service

AnswersD, E

MGN automates server migration.

Why this answer

AWS MGN automates server migration. AWS Application Discovery Service helps discover on-premises server inventory. AWS DMS is for databases.

AWS SMS is deprecated. AWS DataSync is for file/object storage.

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73

MCQmedium

A company is migrating an on-premises Hadoop cluster to Amazon EMR. The cluster processes large datasets that are stored on HDFS. The company wants to minimize migration effort and cost. Which storage option should the company use with Amazon EMR?

A.Amazon EBS volumes attached to the core nodes

B.Amazon S3 with EMRFS

C.Amazon FSx for HDFS

D.Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)

AnswerB

EMRFS allows EMR to use S3 as a drop-in replacement for HDFS.

Why this answer

Amazon S3 with EMRFS allows EMR to use S3 as a scalable, durable, and cost-effective storage layer, eliminating the need to manage HDFS. Option A is incorrect because EBS volumes require provisioning and management, and do not provide the same scalability and cost benefits. Option C is incorrect because Amazon FSx for HDFS is suitable for workloads requiring HDFS compatibility but is more complex and expensive than using S3.

Option D is incorrect because Amazon EFS is a file system, not optimized for Hadoop workloads and typically used for shared file storage.

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74

Multi-Selectmedium

A company is planning to migrate its on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle using AWS DMS. The database is 5 TB in size with continuous changes. Which TWO steps should the company take to minimize downtime during the migration?

Select 2 answers

A.Set up ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC) from the start.

B.Enable Multi-AZ on the target RDS instance during migration.

C.Use AWS Direct Connect to establish a dedicated network connection.

D.Use a large DMS replication instance to improve throughput.

E.Perform a full load migration first, then apply CDC after the cutover window.

AnswersA, D

CDC minimizes downtime by replicating changes continuously.

Why this answer

Setting up ongoing replication using change data capture (CDC) from the start allows continuous synchronization of changes, minimizing the final cutover downtime. Option D is correct because using a large DMS replication instance improves throughput and speeds up the data transfer, reducing the overall migration time. Option B is incorrect because Multi-AZ is a high-availability feature for the target RDS instance, not a factor in migration speed or downtime reduction.

Option C is incorrect because while AWS Direct Connect can provide a reliable network connection, it is not a specific step to minimize downtime during migration; the primary focus should be on replication strategy and instance size. Option E is incorrect because performing a full load first and then applying CDC after the cutover window would result in a longer downtime compared to having CDC running from the start.

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75

MCQhard

A company is migrating a legacy Oracle database to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL. The migration must be completed with minimal downtime and minimal manual effort. Which AWS service should be used?

A.AWS DataSync

B.AWS DMS with ongoing replication

C.AWS Snowball Edge

D.AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)

AnswerB

DMS can migrate from Oracle to PostgreSQL with minimal downtime via ongoing replication.

Why this answer

(AWS DMS with ongoing replication) is correct because AWS DMS can migrate data from Oracle to Aurora PostgreSQL with ongoing replication, enabling minimal downtime. Option A (AWS DataSync) is designed for file-based data transfers, not databases. Option C (AWS Snowball Edge) is for large-scale offline data transfer, not suitable for minimal downtime migration.

Option D (AWS Schema Conversion Tool) helps assess schema compatibility and convert schemas, but does not perform the actual data migration.

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