This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company has a Direct Connect connection with a private VIF attached to a Direct Connect Gateway. The company wants to connect to multiple VPCs in the same AWS Region. What is the MOST cost-effective and scalable design?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a Transit Gateway, attach it to the Direct Connect Gateway using a Transit VIF, and attach each VPC to the Transit Gateway.
Option C is correct because it uses a Transit Gateway (TGW) to interconnect multiple VPCs and a Direct Connect Gateway (DXGW) via a Transit VIF, which is the most cost-effective and scalable design. The Transit VIF allows a single Direct Connect connection to be shared across many VPCs through the TGW, avoiding the need for multiple private VIFs or complex peering arrangements. This design scales to hundreds of VPCs and reduces operational overhead by centralizing routing.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Provision multiple private VIFs, each connected to a different VPC.
Why it's wrong here
Multiple VIFs increase cost and complexity.
✗
Create a Direct Connect Gateway and associate each VPC's Virtual Private Gateway to it using a private VIF.
Why it's wrong here
A private VIF can only be associated with one Direct Connect Gateway; multiple VPCs require a Transit VIF.
✓
Create a Transit Gateway, attach it to the Direct Connect Gateway using a Transit VIF, and attach each VPC to the Transit Gateway.
Why this is correct
This is scalable and cost-effective.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a private VIF to connect to a Virtual Private Gateway in one VPC and use VPC Peering to reach other VPCs.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Peering is not transitive and requires many connections.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the misconception that a Direct Connect Gateway alone can provide transitive routing between VPCs, but in reality, a Direct Connect Gateway only connects VPCs to on-premises networks, not VPCs to each other, which is why a Transit Gateway is needed for inter-VPC connectivity.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, a Transit VIF uses 802.1Q VLAN tagging to multiplex multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical Direct Connect connection, and the Direct Connect Gateway acts as a bridge between the Transit VIF and the Transit Gateway using BGP sessions. The Transit Gateway then uses its route tables to enable transitive routing between all attached VPCs and the on-premises network, supporting up to thousands of VPC attachments. In a real-world scenario, a company with dozens of VPCs in a region can use this design to avoid the administrative burden of managing multiple VIFs or VPC peering connections, while also benefiting from centralized traffic inspection and bandwidth aggregation.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a Transit Gateway, attach it to the Direct Connect Gateway using a Transit VIF, and attach each VPC to the Transit Gateway. — Option C is correct because it uses a Transit Gateway (TGW) to interconnect multiple VPCs and a Direct Connect Gateway (DXGW) via a Transit VIF, which is the most cost-effective and scalable design. The Transit VIF allows a single Direct Connect connection to be shared across many VPCs through the TGW, avoiding the need for multiple private VIFs or complex peering arrangements. This design scales to hundreds of VPCs and reduces operational overhead by centralizing routing.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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