AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) is the primary service for "lift-and-shift" migrations to AWS. It simplifies and expedites your migration by automatically converting your source servers from physical, virtual, or cloud infrastructure to run natively on AWS.

Key Features

Block-Level Replication: Replicates the entire server (OS, apps, data) at the block level.
Continuous Replication: Maintains synchronization between source and AWS until cutover.
Minimal Downtime: Cutover takes only minutes.
Wide Support: Supports physical servers, VMware, Hyper-V, and other clouds (Azure, GCP).
Replaces Server Migration Service (SMS): MGN is the successor to AWS SMS.

Exam Tips

"Lift and Shift": Answer is MGN.
"Migrate Server" / "Rehost": Answer is MGN.
"Physical/Virtual to AWS": Answer is MGN.
If you see "Server Migration Service (SMS)", it's likely an older question or distractor; prefer MGN.

Common Use Cases

Datacenter Exit: Moving all servers out of a physical datacenter.
Cloud-to-Cloud: Migrating from Azure or Google Cloud to AWS.
Disaster Recovery: Using AWS as a DR site (though AWS DRS is specialized for this).