CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A company hosts a web application on Amazon EC2 instances in two AWS Regions: us-east-1 and eu-west-1. The application serves a global user base. The company wants to improve performance by directing users to the nearest healthy regional endpoint with minimal latency. Additionally, the company requires two static Anycast IP addresses that remain constant, representing the application entry point. The solution should automatically reroute traffic if a regional endpoint becomes unhealthy. Which AWS service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Global Accelerator with CloudFront or Route 53, thinking DNS-based routing or CDN caching can provide static Anycast IPs and instant failover, but only Global Accelerator offers fixed Anycast addresses with automatic traffic rerouting at the network layer.
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 is correct because it uses the AWS global network and Anycast static IP addresses to route user traffic to the nearest healthy regional endpoint (EC2 instances in us-east-1 or eu-west-1). It automatically reroutes traffic if an endpoint becomes unhealthy, providing low latency and high availability for global users.
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 the global AWS network to direct traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint via static Anycast IP addresses. It improves performance for global users by minimizing latency and provides automatic failover. This matches all requirements.
- ✗
Amazon CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches content at edge locations to reduce latency for static and dynamic content. However, it does not provide static Anycast IP addresses for routing to regional application endpoints; it uses its own domain with edge locations. It is not designed for the described use case of directing users to specific regional EC2 instances with fixed IPs.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to deliver static and dynamic content with low latency and high transfer speeds to a global audience, and requires HTTPS termination at the edge, DDoS protection, and integration with AWS origins like S3, ELB, or EC2. CloudFront would be the correct choice for caching and accelerating content delivery.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Route 53 offers DNS services with routing policies like latency-based or geolocation routing. However, DNS-based routing relies on client DNS caching and does not provide static Anycast IP addresses. Route 53 can route users to different regions but introduces potential DNS delays and is not optimized for sub-second traffic management as Global Accelerator is.
When this WOULD be correct
Route 53 would be correct if the requirement was for DNS-level traffic management (e.g., latency-based routing, geolocation routing, or weighted routing) without the need for static Anycast IPs, and if the application could tolerate DNS caching delays for failover.
- ✗
AWS Shield
Why it's wrong here
AWS Shield is incorrect because it is a managed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection service, not a traffic routing or acceleration service. It does not provide static Anycast IP addresses, nor does it direct user traffic to the nearest healthy EC2 endpoint, so it cannot improve latency or provide application-level failover. While AWS Shield can be layered with Global Accelerator to protect the same application, Shield alone does not manage how traffic reaches regional endpoints.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to protect its web application hosted on EC2 instances from DDoS attacks, with automatic detection and mitigation. AWS Shield (Advanced) would be the correct choice for enhanced DDoS protection with 24/7 support and cost protection.
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 the global AWS network to direct traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint via static Anycast IP addresses. It improves performance for global users by minimizing latency and provides automatic failover. This matches all requirements.
✗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, but it does not provide static Anycast IP addresses as a single entry point. It also does not offer regional endpoint health checking and automatic rerouting at the application layer without cache invalidation.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to deliver static and dynamic content with low latency and high transfer speeds to a global audience, and requires HTTPS termination at the edge, DDoS protection, and integration with AWS origins like S3, ELB, or EC2. CloudFront would be the correct choice for caching and accelerating content delivery.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse CloudFront's edge locations and global distribution with Global Accelerator's Anycast IP and traffic management, assuming CloudFront also provides static IPs and health-based routing, which it does not.
✗Amazon Route 53Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon Route 53 does not provide static Anycast IP addresses; it uses DNS-based routing, which can be cached by clients and ISPs, leading to slower failover and potential latency issues compared to Global Accelerator's Anycast IPs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Route 53 would be correct if the requirement was for DNS-level traffic management (e.g., latency-based routing, geolocation routing, or weighted routing) without the need for static Anycast IPs, and if the application could tolerate DNS caching delays for failover.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Route 53's latency-based routing can direct users to the nearest region, but they overlook the requirement for static Anycast IP addresses and the need for immediate failover without DNS propagation delays.
✗AWS ShieldWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Shield is a managed DDoS protection service, not a traffic routing or performance optimization service. It does not provide Anycast IP addresses or health-based routing to regional endpoints.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to protect its web application hosted on EC2 instances from DDoS attacks, with automatic detection and mitigation. AWS Shield (Advanced) would be the correct choice for enhanced DDoS protection with 24/7 support and cost protection.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse AWS Shield with Global Accelerator because both involve static IP addresses and edge locations, but Shield focuses solely on security, not traffic routing or latency optimization.
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.