Migration Flashcards by franck dorsainvil

What is the AWS Snow Family used for?

Secure, large-scale, physical data transfers to/from AWS without using the internet.

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What are the three devices in the AWS Snow Family?

Snowcone, Snowball Edge, Snowmobile.

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What is the storage and best use case for Snowcone?

8 TB; small jobs, edge/IoT, space-constrained environments.

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What storage sizes and options does Snowball Edge offer?

48–81 TB; Storage-optimized, Compute-optimized, GPU-enabled.

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What is Snowmobile used for?

Massive data transfers (100 PB); full data center migration.

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Mnemonic for remembering Snow devices?

Cone = Small, Ball = All, Mobile = It All.

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When should you choose a Snow device?

When internet is too slow/insecure, or for one-time/offline large data migration.

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What is AWS Storage Gateway?

A hybrid storage service connecting on-prem systems to AWS.

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What are the three types of Storage Gateway?

File Gateway, Volume Gateway, Tape Gateway.

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File Gateway use case and protocol?

NFS/SMB; extends file shares to S3.

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Volume Gateway use case and protocol?

iSCSI; backs up VM disks to AWS, EBS snapshots.

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Tape Gateway use case?

Replaces physical tape backups with virtual tapes in Glacier.

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Cached vs Stored Mode in Storage Gateway?

Cached = recent data on-prem; Stored = all data on-prem + backed to AWS.

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What is AWS DataSync used for?

Secure, agent-based transfer of on-prem data to AWS (S3, EFS, FSx).

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Is DataSync a hybrid solution?

No, it’s for one-time or scheduled migrations, not hybrid use.

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Key requirement to use DataSync?

Install a DataSync agent on-premises.

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What protocols does AWS Transfer Family support?

SFTP, FTPS, FTP (only inside VPC).

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When should you use AWS Transfer Family?

Legacy apps using SFTP/FTPS/FTP that need to move to S3/EFS without code changes.

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What does AWS Migration Hub do?

Tracks and manages migration progress (not a migration engine).

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What services does Migration Hub integrate with?

SMS, DMS, MGN, CloudEndure.

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What is AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) used for?

Migrating on-prem VMs to AWS (creates AMIs from vSphere snapshots).

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When to choose SMS?

When migrating VMs like VMware vSphere to AWS EC2.

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What is AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)?

A service to migrate and replicate databases to AWS.

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What are the three types of migrations DMS supports?

Full Load, Full Load + CDC, CDC-only.

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What is CDC-only best for?

Ensuring transactional integrity during database sync.

What is the role of Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)?

Converts schemas between different database engines (e.g., Oracle → PostgreSQL).

What is the endpoint requirement for DMS?

At least one endpoint (source or target) must be in AWS.

What does Application Discovery Service do?

Discovers and analyzes on-prem systems before migration.

What are the two types of discovery?

Agentless (for VMware); Agent-based (for detailed tracking).

What is AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)?

Lift-and-shift tool for migrating physical/virtual servers to AWS.

Key performance metrics for MGN?

RTO = minutes; RPO = sub-seconds.

You need to extend on-prem file share into AWS → Which service?

File Gateway.

You need to back up VM volumes to AWS → Which service?

Volume Gateway.

One-time NFS migration to AWS → Which service?

DataSync.

Migrate Oracle DB to Aurora with schema conversion → Which services?

DMS + SCT.

Migrate full data center (PB-scale) → Which service?

Snowmobile.

Legacy app uses SFTP, no app code change allowed → Which service?

AWS Transfer Family.

Want to track progress of database + server migrations in one place → Which service?

Migration Hub.

Your organization needs to migrate 500 TB of data from an offline location with no internet connection. The data must be encrypted during transit. Which AWS service should you use?

✅ B. AWS Snowball Edge

A legacy logistics application uploads files daily using SFTP to an on-prem server. You are moving the application’s backend to AWS, but the app cannot be modified. Which service should you use to handle the file uploads?

✅ B. AWS Transfer Family

You’re tasked with migrating a MySQL database from on-premises to Amazon Aurora. The migration must happen with minimal downtime. Which services should you use?

✅ C. AWS DMS with Full Load + CDC

You’re running out of space on your company’s local NFS file server. You want to expand storage capacity without replacing the server, while backing up all files to AWS. Which service should you use?

✅ B. AWS File Gateway

Your company wants to replicate VMware virtual machines into AWS for disaster recovery. Which AWS service should you recommend?

✅ C. AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

You need to back up physical tape libraries to the cloud using the same backup software your company already uses. What’s the best AWS service?

✅ C. AWS Tape Gateway

You’re planning to migrate workloads to AWS and want detailed CPU, RAM, disk, and process-level insight for existing physical and virtual machines. What tool should you use?

✅ B. AWS Application Discovery Agent

Your team is migrating both a SQL Server and Oracle database to Amazon RDS. One will move to SQL Server on RDS and the other to Aurora PostgreSQL. What tools should you use?

✅ A. DMS + SCT

You’re tasked with moving several terabytes of archived data to Amazon S3, but the internet connection is slow and unreliable. What’s the best approach?

✅ C. AWS Snowball Edge

A retail company needs to migrate file shares from a Windows file server to AWS while keeping recent files cached locally for faster access. What’s the best solution?

✅ B. AWS File Gateway in Cached Mode

You’ve migrated a MySQL database to AWS but need to keep syncing the on-prem and AWS versions in near real-time. Which migration type should you use?

✅ C. CDC Only

You need to track the progress of VM and database migrations across multiple AWS accounts and services. Which AWS tool should you use?

✅ C. AWS Migration Hub

What is AWS Snowmobile designed for?

AWS Snowmobile is designed for exabyte-scale transfers like 1 PB; secure, offline, and encrypted.

What does AWS Transfer Family support?

AWS Transfer Family supports SFTP and integrates with S3, perfect for legacy apps that can't be changed.

What is AWS DataSync ideal for?

AWS DataSync is ideal for one-time NFS/SMB migrations to S3 or EFS.

What is AWS MGN used for?

AWS MGN is the go-to for lift-and-shift of virtual machines from vSphere/VMware.

What does Tape Gateway replace?

Tape Gateway replaces physical tape libraries and integrates with backup software and S3 Glacier.

What does Volume Gateway provide?

Volume Gateway provides iSCSI block volumes, great for VM disk backups and EBS snapshot integration.

What is Snowcone designed for?

Snowcone handles up to 8 TB and is rugged, ideal for bandwidth-limited, remote IoT environments.

What does MGN handle?

MGN handles lift-and-shift of physical servers and supports minimal downtime migration.

What does Application Discovery Service help with?

Application Discovery Service helps inventory VMs and dependencies before migration.

What is Snowball Edge suited for?

Snowball Edge is suited for hundreds of TBs, bypassing slow internet.

What access does Transfer Family allow?

Transfer Family allows FTP/SFTP access and stores files in S3 — fits legacy FTP scenarios.

What does DMS + SCT handle?

DMS + SCT handles heterogeneous DB migrations (e.g., Oracle → Aurora).

How does Tape Gateway function?

Tape Gateway emulates tape systems using the cloud — perfect replacement for tape backups.

What is unique about Snowmobile?

Snowmobile is the only service designed for >100 PB migrations.

What does File Gateway (Cached Mode) provide?

File Gateway (Cached Mode) provides low-latency local file access and S3 backend.

What does Application Discovery Service gather?

Application Discovery Service (agent-based or agentless) gathers server/app usage data.

What RTO and RPO does MGN offer?

MGN offers RTO in minutes and RPO in sub-seconds — ideal for low-downtime cutover.

What is DataSync best for?

DataSync is best for one-time file migrations over SMB/NFS to S3/EFS.

What is the recommended process for bulk transfer?

Use SCT + Snowball Edge for initial bulk transfer, then DMS with CDC to sync changes.

What does Volume Gateway (Stored Mode) allow?

Volume Gateway (Stored Mode) allows local VM access with full backup to AWS.

Migration Flashcards

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