CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A media company hosts its website on Amazon EC2 instances in the us-east-1 Region. Static assets such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files are stored in an Amazon S3 bucket. Users across the globe report slow page load times due to high latency when fetching these assets. The company wants to deliver the static content with low latency and high transfer speeds to users worldwide, reduce the load on the EC2 instances, and add protection against common DDoS attacks. Which AWS service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Global Accelerator with a CDN, but Global Accelerator does not cache content—it only optimizes network path routing, making it unsuitable for static asset delivery.
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
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static assets (images, CSS, JavaScript) at edge locations worldwide, reducing latency for global users. It offloads requests from the EC2 origin by serving cached content directly from the edge, and it integrates with AWS Shield Standard to provide automatic protection against common DDoS attacks. This directly addresses the company's requirements for low latency, reduced EC2 load, and DDoS protection.
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
Why this is correct
Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches website content—including media files, images, and scripts—at edge locations strategically positioned near viewers. By serving cached copies from the edge, CloudFront dramatically reduces latency and offloads traffic from the originating EC2 instances, lowering origin load and operational cost. It also provides persistent TCP connections, TLS termination, and built-in DDoS mitigation through AWS Shield, making it the ideal choice for global media delivery.
- ✗
AWS Global Accelerator
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS Global Accelerator improves performance for TCP/UDP traffic by directing requests to the nearest healthy endpoint, but it does not cache content. It is used for non-HTTP protocols and to improve network path, not for static asset delivery.
When this WOULD be correct
A company runs a gaming application on EC2 instances in multiple regions and needs to route users to the nearest healthy endpoint with low latency for real-time UDP traffic, while also providing static IP addresses for whitelisting.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53 latency-based routing
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Amazon Route 53 latency-based routing directs users to the endpoint with the lowest latency, but it does not cache assets or offload traffic from the origin. It only handles DNS resolution, not content delivery.
When this WOULD be correct
A company has multiple EC2 instances deployed in different AWS regions and wants to route user traffic to the region that provides the lowest latency for each user, without caching or DDoS protection requirements.
- ✗
AWS WAF
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS WAF is a web application firewall that helps protect web applications from common exploits. It does not cache content or improve content delivery performance. It can be used in conjunction with CloudFront but is not a CDN solution.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to protect its web application running on EC2 from SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks, while also filtering malicious traffic. In that scenario, AWS WAF integrated with CloudFront or ALB would be the correct choice.
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 CloudFrontCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network (CDN) that caches website content—including media files, images, and scripts—at edge locations strategically positioned near viewers. By serving cached copies from the edge, CloudFront dramatically reduces latency and offloads traffic from the originating EC2 instances, lowering origin load and operational cost. It also provides persistent TCP connections, TLS termination, and built-in DDoS mitigation through AWS Shield, making it the ideal choice for global media delivery.
✗AWS Global AcceleratorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Global Accelerator improves performance for TCP/UDP traffic by routing over the AWS global network, but it does not cache static content or offload requests from EC2 instances like CloudFront does.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company runs a gaming application on EC2 instances in multiple regions and needs to route users to the nearest healthy endpoint with low latency for real-time UDP traffic, while also providing static IP addresses for whitelisting.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Global Accelerator's global network optimization and DDoS protection with CloudFront's content delivery features, thinking it also caches static assets.
✗Amazon Route 53 latency-based routingWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon Route 53 latency-based routing directs traffic to the AWS region with the lowest latency, but it does not cache static content or provide DDoS protection. It also does not reduce load on EC2 instances or accelerate content delivery for a single-region origin.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company has multiple EC2 instances deployed in different AWS regions and wants to route user traffic to the region that provides the lowest latency for each user, without caching or DDoS protection requirements.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse latency-based routing with content delivery acceleration, thinking that routing to the nearest region will solve latency issues, but it does not address caching or DDoS protection.
✗AWS WAFWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS WAF is a web application firewall that protects against common web exploits, but it does not provide content delivery acceleration or reduce latency for static assets. The question specifically requires low latency and high transfer speeds, which WAF does not address.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to protect its web application running on EC2 from SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks, while also filtering malicious traffic. In that scenario, AWS WAF integrated with CloudFront or ALB would be the correct choice.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may see 'DDoS attacks' in the question and immediately think of WAF, but they overlook that the primary requirements are content delivery acceleration and latency reduction, which WAF does not provide.
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?”
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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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 hosts a static website on Amazon S3. The website serves product images and documents to customers around the world. Users in distant regions report slow load times. The company wants to reduce latency for all users without changing the existing S3 bucket configuration. Which AWS service should the company use?
medium- ✓ A.Amazon CloudFront
- B.AWS Direct Connect
- C.Amazon Route 53
- D.AWS Global Accelerator
Why A: Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that caches static content (e.g., images, documents) at edge locations worldwide. By distributing content from the nearest edge location to the user, CloudFront significantly reduces latency without requiring any changes to the existing S3 bucket configuration. The origin remains the S3 bucket, and CloudFront handles the global distribution automatically.
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.