AWS Certified Solutions Architect – ProfessionalDesign Solutions for Organizational ComplexityMedium
A large e-commerce company is migrating its customer loyalty program application from an on-premises data center to AWS. The application is a legacy Java monolith with a tightly coupled Oracle database. The company wants to gradually modernize the application without disrupting existing customer services. The new architecture should leverage cloud-native services where possible for scalability and operational efficiency. Which approach should the Solutions Architect recommend for the database migration?
- ARefactor the application to use Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL and migrate data using custom scripts.
- BMigrate the Oracle database to Amazon EC2 running Oracle Database Enterprise Edition using AWS DMS.
- CReplatform the Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle using AWS DMS for data migration.
- DRe-host the Oracle database on Amazon EC2 and use AWS Backup for replication.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Replatform the Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle using AWS DMS for data migration.
Replatforming to Amazon RDS for Oracle minimizes changes to the application as it remains an Oracle database, reducing the risk of disruption. AWS DMS can manage the migration of data with minimal downtime. This approach leverages a fully managed service for the database, improving scalability and operational efficiency without requiring a complete application refactor immediately.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Refactoring to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL would involve significant code changes to the legacy Java application due to SQL dialect differences, stored procedures, and potentially ORM layer adjustments. This contradicts the goal of gradual modernization without disruption and is a much larger undertaking than desired for the initial migration phase.
- B. Migrating to Oracle on EC2 would still require the company to manage the database, including patching, backups, and high availability, which increases operational overhead and doesn't fully leverage managed services for efficiency.
- D. Re-hosting on EC2 for the database means no managed service benefits, and AWS Backup is a backup service, not a data replication or migration tool for production database cutovers like AWS DMS.
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
A cloud service that helps migrate databases to AWS quickly and securely. It supports homogeneous and heterogeneous migrations and continuous data replication.
- Supports various database engines (Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.).
- Enables both one-time migration and continuous data replication.
- Minimizes downtime during database migration.
Memory trick: For a smooth database move, keep the engine, change the driver.