Architecture patterns are where individual decisions become complete systems.
While pillars explain how to make specific decisions and topics organize what decisions you’ll face, patterns show how everything fits together in production-ready architectures.
These aren’t theoretical patterns. They’re the recurring enterprise architectures that AWS Solutions Architects design repeatedly—and that SAP-C02 tests repeatedly.
The Legacy Modernization pattern addresses the reality of enterprise IT: moving complex, monolithic, and often poorly documented systems to the cloud. For SAP-C02, you must demonstrate the ability to evaluate technical debt and select a migration path that balances speed, cost, and risk.
🏗️ Core Architectural Patterns #
Success in modernization scenarios depends on the precise application of the 6 Rs Framework and the use of the right migration tooling.
1. The Migration Strategy (The 6 Rs) #
- Rehost (Lift & Shift): Moving applications without changes using AWS Application Migration Service (MGN). Best for quick exits from data centers.
- Replatform (Lift & Reshape): Making slight optimizations (e.g., moving to RDS or Elastic Beanstalk) without changing core code.
- Refactor (Re-architect): Breaking the monolith into microservices. Highest effort, but highest cloud-native value.
2. Database & Data Migration #
- AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT): Converting heterogeneous database schemas (e.g., Oracle to Aurora).
- AWS Database Migration Service (DMS): Handling the actual data movement with minimal downtime via Change Data Capture (CDC).
- AWS DataSync: Efficiently moving large-scale file and object data from on-premises NAS/SAN.
📚 Key Decision Pillars (Deep Dives) #
These pillars provide the tactical logic for executing the modernization pattern:
- The 6 Rs Migration Strategy Deep Dive: Choosing between velocity and optimization.
- Database Migration via DMS & SCT Logic: Managing schema conversion and replication.
- Application Modernization Strategies: Using the Strangler Fig Pattern to decompose monoliths.
- Snow Family & DataSync Migration Flow: Solving the “T1 bottleneck” for petabyte-scale migrations.