Google Cloud Digital Leader Practice Exam

An organization is moving its operations to the cloud but needs to migrate a legacy application without making any changes to the code. Which migration path should they choose?

1. Replatform

2. Refactor

3. Rehost

4. Retire

The correct answer is: Rehost

Choosing to rehost is the optimal migration path for organizations looking to move a legacy application to the cloud without altering its code. This approach involves moving the application as it is from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud, typically utilizing infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings. Rehosting allows organizations to maintain their existing application architecture, dependencies, and configurations while taking advantage of the cloud’s resources. This method significantly reduces the complexity and risk associated with application migration since no modifications to the application code are required, making it ideal for legacy systems that might not be readily adaptable or could entail considerable redevelopment costs. In contrast, replatforming, while also a viable option for migration, typically necessitates some code changes or adjustments to leverage cloud-native features or services, which is not suitable for this scenario. Refactoring involves more extensive modifications to the application code to improve its performance or enhance cloud capabilities, and retiring means discontinuing the application altogether, which is not aligned with the requirement to migrate the legacy application. Therefore, rehosting stands out as the best choice in this context.