CLF-C02 Cloud Technology and Services Practice Question
A financial institution needs a private, dedicated, high-bandwidth network connection from their on-premises data centre to AWS that does not traverse the public internet, provides consistent low latency, and supports up to 100 Gbps bandwidth. Which AWS service provides this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse AWS Site-to-Site VPN with Direct Connect, assuming VPN provides dedicated bandwidth and low latency, but VPNs are inherently internet-based and subject to public network variability, while Direct Connect offers a private, dedicated physical link.
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 Direct Connect
AWS Direct Connect is the correct choice because it provides a private, dedicated network connection from an on-premises data center to AWS that bypasses the public internet, ensuring consistent low latency and supporting bandwidths up to 100 Gbps (via 100 Gbps dedicated connections or link aggregation). This meets all the specified requirements for a high-bandwidth, private, and low-latency link.
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 Site-to-Site VPN
Why it's wrong here
AWS Site-to-Site VPN creates an encrypted IPsec tunnel between your on-premises VPN device and a virtual private gateway (or transit gateway) in AWS, traversing the public internet. While it guarantees confidentiality and integrity, it provides no dedicated bandwidth, and throughput can fluctuate based on internet path congestion, packet loss, and jitter. For workloads that need stable, predictable performance, it is not a substitute for a dedicated physical link.
- ✓
AWS Direct Connect
Why this is correct
AWS Direct Connect is a dedicated, private physical network connection that runs from your on-premises or colocation facility to a Direct Connect location, providing consistent low latency and reliable bandwidth at speeds from 1 Gbps to 100 Gbps (or lower via partner-hosted connections). It bypasses the public internet entirely, allowing you to access your VPCs (via private virtual interfaces), AWS public services, or transit gateways. This makes it the correct service for a private, dedicated link into AWS.
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Amazon CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudFront is a global content delivery network that caches static and dynamic content at edge locations to reduce latency for end users. It helps accelerate web distribution over HTTP/HTTPS, but it does not establish a dedicated or private physical link between an on-premises data center and AWS. For hybrid cloud networking, it has no role in providing the underlying Layer 2/Layer 3 transport that a private connection requires.
- ✗
AWS Transit Gateway
Why it's wrong here
AWS Transit Gateway is a regional network transit hub that interconnects VPCs and on-premises networks using central routing, which simplifies network architecture. It can consume a Direct Connect virtual interface (via a transit VIF) or a VPN, but it is purely a logical routing appliance, not a physical circuit. As such, it operates at Layer 3 and requires an underlying physical or virtual link to provide connectivity to your data center.
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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.