CLF-C02 Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A company has a hybrid cloud environment with both on-premises servers and AWS. They want a consistent management experience across both environments. Which AWS service extends the same AWS Systems Manager capabilities to non-AWS servers?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse AWS Outposts (which extends AWS infrastructure) with the ability to manage existing non-AWS servers, or they mistakenly think Amazon EC2 Systems Manager (the old name) can natively manage on-premises servers without hybrid activations.
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 Systems Manager with hybrid activations
AWS Systems Manager with hybrid activations allows you to manage on-premises servers and other non-AWS compute resources using the same Systems Manager capabilities (e.g., Run Command, Patch Manager, Inventory) as you use for EC2 instances. By installing the SSM Agent on the non-AWS server and registering it via a hybrid activation, the server appears as a managed instance in Systems Manager, providing a consistent management plane across hybrid environments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS Outposts
Why it's wrong here
AWS Outposts extends AWS infrastructure and services to customer premises, allowing workloads to run locally with a consistent AWS experience. However, it is not a management service—it does not discover, register, or manage existing on-premises servers as managed instances. The scenario requires applying Systems Manager capabilities like Run Command or Patch Manager to existing non-AWS servers, which Outposts does not provide.
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AWS Systems Manager with hybrid activations
Why this is correct
AWS Systems Manager with hybrid activations creates an activation code and ID that on-premises servers or VMs use to register as managed instances. Once the SSM Agent is installed and registered, features like Run Command, Patch Manager, Inventory, and Session Manager work identically on these hybrid nodes as they do on EC2 instances. This directly enables unified management of existing on-premises infrastructure from the AWS Management Console, making it the correct choice.
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AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
AWS Direct Connect establishes a dedicated, private network link between an on-premises data center and AWS, improving bandwidth and reducing network costs. It operates at the network layer and has no agent, no API, and no management-plane functionality for patching, executing commands, or inventorying servers. While a Direct Connect link could carry Systems Manager traffic, it does not itself manage servers, so it cannot fulfill the stated requirement.
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Amazon EC2 Systems Manager
Why it's wrong here
Amazon EC2 Systems Manager is the legacy name for AWS Systems Manager before the service was rebranded to emphasize its hybrid-cloud capabilities. The question specifically asks about extending management to non-EC2, on-premises servers, which requires the modern hybrid activation feature. Merely referencing the old name omits the essential mechanism, making this option an incomplete and therefore incorrect answer.
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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.