CLF-C02 Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A company has migrated all of its workloads to AWS and has decommissioned all of its on-premises data centres. All compute, storage, databases, and networking are now managed in AWS. Which cloud deployment model describes this architecture?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'public cloud' with 'multi-cloud' or 'hybrid cloud' because they think using AWS alone implies a private cloud, but AWS is a public cloud provider by definition, and the absence of on-premises infrastructure eliminates hybrid or multi-cloud models.
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
✓
Public cloud
The company has migrated all workloads to AWS and decommissioned all on-premises data centers, meaning all infrastructure is hosted entirely on AWS's shared infrastructure. This is the definition of a public cloud deployment model, where resources are owned and operated by a third-party cloud provider (AWS) and delivered over the internet to multiple tenants. No private or on-premises components remain, so the architecture is purely public cloud.
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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Hybrid cloud
Why it's wrong here
Hybrid cloud is a computing environment that combines an organization's on-premises or private infrastructure with one or more public clouds, typically linking them via dedicated connections such as AWS Direct Connect, VPN, or APIs to enable unified orchestration, data portability, and workload placement across both domains. Since the scenario explicitly states there is no on-premises infrastructure, there is no private or local component to pair with AWS, so the architecture is not hybrid. The key distinguishing feature of hybrid cloud is the sustained coexistence and interconnection of a non-cloud environment with a public cloud, which is absent here.
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Private cloud
Why it's wrong here
Private cloud is a single-tenant environment provisioned for the exclusive use of one organization, where compute, storage, and networking are delivered with dedicated hardware and full control over the underlying resources, often hosted on-premises or in a vendor-managed isolated data center. AWS operates a massive multi-tenant infrastructure where the physical servers are shared among thousands of customers, even though the logical isolation via VPCs, subnets, and security groups can give the appearance of a private space. That logical isolation does not make AWS a private cloud because the hardware is still owned, operated, and managed by a public provider, and the customer has no direct physical control, so this company's setup on AWS is not a private cloud.
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Multi-cloud
Why it's wrong here
Multi-cloud is an architectural strategy that deliberately distributes workloads across two or more independent public cloud providers, such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform, in order to avoid vendor lock-in, improve disaster resilience, or leverage the best-of-breed services from each platform. The company in this scenario runs all of its workloads exclusively on AWS and has no secondary public cloud provider in use, so it does not meet the definition of multi-cloud. A common exam misconception is that using multiple AWS regions or AWS accounts counts as multi-cloud, but those are still within a single provider and therefore do not create a multi-cloud environment.
- ✓
Public cloud
Why this is correct
Public cloud is the on-demand delivery of IT resources via a multi-tenant infrastructure that is owned and operated by a third-party provider such as AWS, where customers share the same physical hardware isolated logically by hypervisors and networking, and pay as they go. Because the company runs all workloads on AWS with no on-premises or dedicated data center, it is operating entirely in the public cloud deployment model. Even if the company uses VPN or Direct Connect links, the underlying facilities are still cloud provider-owned and shared, so the deployment remains public.
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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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.