CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A company hosts an e-commerce website on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer in the us-east-1 Region. The website includes both static assets (product images, CSS files) and dynamic content (user-specific cart data). The company has customers all over the world who complain about slow page load times. The company wants to reduce latency by caching static content closer to users while still allowing dynamic requests to reach the origin. Which AWS service should the company use to meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Global Accelerator's network optimization (which only reduces latency for all traffic via the AWS backbone) with CloudFront's caching capability, mistakenly thinking Global Accelerator can cache static content when it cannot.
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
✓
Amazon CloudFront with Application Load Balancer as the origin
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static content (e.g., images, CSS) at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for users. By configuring the Application Load Balancer as the origin, CloudFront forwards dynamic requests (e.g., cart data) to the ALB, which then routes them to the EC2 instances. This hybrid approach meets the requirement to cache static assets globally while allowing dynamic content to be processed by the origin servers.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon CloudFront with Application Load Balancer as the origin
Why this is correct
Correct. Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that can cache static content at edge locations closer to users. It also supports dynamic content by forwarding requests to the origin, which can be an Application Load Balancer. This meets both the caching and origin integration requirements.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routing
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routing directs user traffic to the region that provides the lowest latency, but it does not cache content at edge locations. Static content would still be served from the origin server, not reducing load times for frequently accessed assets.
When this WOULD be correct
A company has multiple EC2 origins in different AWS regions and wants to route users to the region with the lowest latency for dynamic content, without needing content caching or edge optimization.
- ✗
AWS Global Accelerator with static IP addresses
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS Global Accelerator improves performance by directing traffic over the AWS global network to the optimal endpoint, but it does not cache content. It is designed for TCP/UDP traffic and can accelerate both static and dynamic content, but without caching, static assets are not served from edge locations.
When this WOULD be correct
A company needs to improve availability and performance for a global user base by directing traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint (e.g., EC2 instances in multiple regions) using static IP addresses as a fixed entry point, without requiring content caching.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to S3 buckets over long distances by using AWS edge locations, but it is used for uploading objects to S3, not for serving cached content to end users. It does not integrate with an Application Load Balancer for dynamic content.
When this WOULD be correct
A company needs to accelerate uploads of large files (e.g., video content, backups) to an S3 bucket from geographically distributed users, and the primary requirement is faster transfer speeds over long distances.
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.
✓Amazon CloudFront with Application Load Balancer as the originCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Correct. Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that can cache static content at edge locations closer to users. It also supports dynamic content by forwarding requests to the origin, which can be an Application Load Balancer. This meets both the caching and origin integration requirements.
✗Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routingWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Route 53 latency-based routing directs traffic to the nearest region but does not cache static content at edge locations; it still requires requests to travel to the origin, failing to reduce latency for static assets globally.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company has multiple EC2 origins in different AWS regions and wants to route users to the region with the lowest latency for dynamic content, without needing content caching or edge optimization.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse latency-based routing with edge caching, thinking that routing to the nearest region alone will solve latency issues for static content, but it does not provide the caching benefits of a CDN.
✗AWS Global Accelerator with static IP addressesWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Global Accelerator improves performance by routing traffic over the AWS global network to the optimal endpoint, but it does not cache static content at edge locations. It still forwards all requests to the origin, so it does not reduce latency for static assets as effectively as CloudFront's edge caching.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company needs to improve availability and performance for a global user base by directing traffic to the nearest healthy endpoint (e.g., EC2 instances in multiple regions) using static IP addresses as a fixed entry point, without requiring content caching.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Global Accelerator's edge-based routing with CloudFront's caching capabilities, assuming any edge service can cache content, or they may focus on the 'static IP' requirement mentioned in some scenarios.
✗Amazon S3 Transfer AccelerationWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration speeds up uploads to S3 over long distances, but it does not cache content at edge locations or serve as a CDN for static assets. It cannot reduce latency for user requests to an ALB-hosted website.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company needs to accelerate uploads of large files (e.g., video content, backups) to an S3 bucket from geographically distributed users, and the primary requirement is faster transfer speeds over long distances.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'acceleration' with content delivery, assuming Transfer Acceleration can cache static assets globally, when it only optimizes uploads to S3, not downloads or caching.
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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About these practice questions
One of 988 original CLF-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company runs a web application on a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application serves dynamic content that changes frequently, but also serves static assets (CSS, JavaScript, images) that change rarely. The company wants to improve the overall performance and reduce the load on the EC2 instances by caching the static assets at edge locations while still routing dynamic requests to the ALB. Which combination of AWS services should the company use?
medium- ✓ A.Use Amazon CloudFront with the ALB as the origin, and configure CloudFront to cache the static assets while forwarding dynamic requests to the ALB.
- B.Use Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routing to direct users to the closest ALB endpoint.
- C.Use Amazon S3 to host the entire application, and use the ALB to route traffic to the S3 bucket.
- D.Use AWS Global Accelerator to distribute traffic across multiple ALBs in different AWS Regions.
Why A: Amazon CloudFront can be configured with the ALB as the origin, allowing it to cache static assets (CSS, JavaScript, images) at edge locations while forwarding dynamic requests to the ALB. This reduces latency for users by serving cached content from the nearest edge location and offloads the EC2 instances from handling repeated requests for static files. CloudFront supports path-based caching behaviors, so you can define specific URL patterns (e.g., /static/*) to cache and others to forward directly to the ALB.
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.