CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A company hosts a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB) in the us-east-1 Region. The application serves users worldwide, and the company wants to optimize both performance and availability for all users. The solution should use the AWS global network to route traffic from users to the nearest edge location and then over the AWS backbone to the ALB, without caching content at edge locations. Which AWS service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Global Accelerator with CloudFront because both use edge locations, but the key differentiator is that CloudFront caches content at the edge, while Global Accelerator does not cache and instead optimizes network path routing for dynamic content or non-HTTP traffic.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Global Accelerator
AWS Global Accelerator uses the AWS global network to route user traffic to the nearest edge location via Anycast IP addresses, then forwards it over the AWS backbone directly to the Application Load Balancer (ALB) in us-east-1. This optimizes performance by reducing latency and jitter, and improves availability by providing static IP addresses and health-check-based traffic shifting, without caching any content at edge locations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS Global Accelerator
Why this is correct
AWS Global Accelerator uses Anycast IP addresses at AWS edge locations to receive user traffic and then routes it over the AWS global network to the application endpoint. This improves performance by reducing internet latency and provides fast failover between regions or endpoints. It does not cache content, making it suitable for dynamic applications.
- ✗
Amazon CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static and dynamic content at edge locations. The scenario explicitly states that the solution should NOT cache content at edge locations, so CloudFront is not the best fit. Global Accelerator is the correct service because it optimizes traffic without caching.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to deliver static and dynamic web content (e.g., images, videos, API responses) with low latency and high transfer speeds, and is okay with caching at edge locations. The question would ask for a global CDN service that caches content to reduce load on origin servers.
- ✗
AWS Shield
Why it's wrong here
AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service. While it can improve security, it does not optimize traffic routing for performance or provide edge location ingress for all protocols. The question focuses on performance and global network routing, not DDoS protection.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to protect its web application hosted on EC2 behind an ALB from DDoS attacks, with always-on detection and automatic inline mitigations. AWS Shield Standard is free and included, but for enhanced protection, AWS Shield Advanced would be the correct answer.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53 latency-based routing
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Route 53 latency-based routing directs users to the AWS Region with the lowest latency based on DNS queries. This is a DNS-level optimization and does not use AWS edge locations for traffic ingress or the AWS backbone for routing. Global Accelerator provides a more comprehensive performance improvement by using edge locations and the global network.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to route users to the closest healthy endpoint based on latency, without needing a static IP address or using the AWS global network for traffic acceleration. For example, directing users to different EC2 regions based on latency for a disaster recovery setup.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The CLF-C02 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓AWS Global AcceleratorCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
AWS Global Accelerator uses Anycast IP addresses at AWS edge locations to receive user traffic and then routes it over the AWS global network to the application endpoint. This improves performance by reducing internet latency and provides fast failover between regions or endpoints. It does not cache content, making it suitable for dynamic applications.
✗Amazon CloudFrontWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches content at edge locations. The question explicitly states 'without caching content at edge locations,' so CloudFront is not suitable.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to deliver static and dynamic web content (e.g., images, videos, API responses) with low latency and high transfer speeds, and is okay with caching at edge locations. The question would ask for a global CDN service that caches content to reduce load on origin servers.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates often associate 'global network' and 'edge locations' with CloudFront, but overlook the 'without caching' constraint. They may not realize that AWS Global Accelerator uses the same edge network without caching.
✗AWS ShieldWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Shield is a managed DDoS protection service, not a global traffic optimization service. It does not route traffic over the AWS backbone or improve performance and availability for global users via edge locations.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to protect its web application hosted on EC2 behind an ALB from DDoS attacks, with always-on detection and automatic inline mitigations. AWS Shield Standard is free and included, but for enhanced protection, AWS Shield Advanced would be the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse AWS Shield with services that provide global network optimization, or think that DDoS protection inherently improves performance and availability, but Shield focuses solely on security, not traffic routing.
✗Amazon Route 53 latency-based routingWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Route 53 latency-based routing directs traffic to the region with the lowest latency, but it does not use the AWS global network to route traffic from users to the nearest edge location and then over the AWS backbone to the ALB. It relies on DNS resolution, which can be cached and does not provide the performance optimization of a fixed entry point close to the user.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to route users to the closest healthy endpoint based on latency, without needing a static IP address or using the AWS global network for traffic acceleration. For example, directing users to different EC2 regions based on latency for a disaster recovery setup.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse latency-based routing with global network acceleration, thinking that DNS-based routing can optimize performance similarly to Global Accelerator, but they overlook that DNS does not provide a fixed entry point or use the AWS backbone.
Analysis generated from the official CLF-C02blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
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This CLF-C02 question is part of Courseiva's 988-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.