In cloud migration, what does the "6 Rs" framework refer to?
The 6 Rs (popularized by Gartner and AWS) categorize how each application is migrated: Rehost ("lift and shift" — move as-is to cloud VMs), Replatform ("lift and reshape" — minor optimizations like a managed database), Repurchase (drop and replace with SaaS, e.g. move to Salesforce), Refactor/Rearchitect (redesign cloud-native, e.g. break a monolith into serverless), Retire (decommission what is no longer needed), and Retain (keep on-prem for now — too risky or costly to move). A migration assessment assigns each app one of these.
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What is a "lift and shift" migration and what is its main trade-off?
Lift and shift (rehosting) moves the app essentially unchanged onto cloud infrastructure. The appeal is speed and low engineering risk — you avoid rewriting code and can hit a data-center-exit deadline. The trade-off is that you bring the old architecture's problems with you: you may pay for always-on VMs instead of elastic services, miss managed-service benefits, and gain little scalability. Many organizations lift-and-shift first to exit a data center, then iterate toward replatforming or refactoring afterwards — a pragmatic "migrate then modernize" approach.
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What is a migration "wave" in a large cloud migration program?
Large migrations are organized into waves — batches of related applications moved together. Wave planning sequences work to manage risk: early waves often contain low-risk, low-dependency apps to build the team's muscle and validate the landing zone; later waves tackle complex, interdependent, business-critical systems. Applications with tight dependencies are usually grouped into the same wave to avoid latency or connectivity issues spanning environments. The output of a migration assessment feeds a wave plan: which apps, in what order, using which of the 6 Rs.
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What is a "landing zone" in a cloud migration?
A landing zone is the well-architected foundation you build before migrating workloads. It establishes the account/subscription structure, network topology (VPCs, subnets, connectivity back to on-prem), identity and access management, logging and monitoring, encryption defaults, and policy guardrails. The goal is that every workload lands in a consistent, secure, compliant environment rather than each team improvising. AWS Control Tower, Azure Landing Zones, and GCP's landing zone blueprints automate this baseline so migration waves have a ready target.
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During a migration, what is the purpose of a "pilot light" or "cutover" plan?
A cutover is the carefully planned moment production traffic moves from the source to the migrated target. A good cutover plan covers data synchronization (final delta sync), DNS/traffic switching, validation checks, a defined rollback path, and a maintenance window. The pilot light pattern keeps a minimal core of the system always running in the cloud (like a pilot flame), so it can be rapidly scaled up during cutover or disaster recovery — cheaper than a full warm standby but faster to activate than building from scratch.
What does the "Cloud Migration Strategy" vocabulary exercise cover?
This exercise tests real IT vocabulary related to cloud migration strategy through 5 multiple-choice questions, each built from realistic workplace sentences rather than abstract definitions.
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How many questions does this exercise have?
This exercise has 5 questions. Each one shows a real-world sentence or scenario with multiple-choice options and an explanation once you answer.
What happens after I answer a question?
You'll see immediate feedback showing whether your answer was correct, along with a short explanation of why — then a button to move to the next question, and a full results screen at the end.
Can I retry the exercise if I get questions wrong?
Yes. Once you reach the results screen, click "Try again" to reset your answers and go through the exercise from the start as many times as you like.
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No account is needed. Your answers are scored in your browser during the session — nothing is saved to a server, so you can jump straight in.
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Are these vocabulary exercises connected to other topics?
Yes — browse the full vocabulary exercises hub to find related modules covering adjacent IT topics and roles.
How is this different from reading a glossary or blog article?
Exercises like this one are active recall drills — you have to choose the correct term or phrasing yourself, which builds retention faster than passively reading a definition.
Where can I find more vocabulary exercises?
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