ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company has a VPC with multiple subnets across three Availability Zones. They deploy an Amazon RDS for MySQL Multi-AZ DB instance. The application tier consists of EC2 instances in private subnets. To improve read performance, the company wants to add read replicas. Which THREE design considerations are important for network connectivity? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The ANS-C01 exam often tests the misconception that read replicas require public IPs or must be in public subnets, but in reality, they can be deployed in private subnets with proper VPC routing and security group rules.
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
✓
Read replicas can be placed in different Availability Zones than the primary DB instance
Amazon RDS read replicas can be placed in different Availability Zones than the primary DB instance. This improves read performance by distributing read traffic across multiple AZs and provides fault isolation, as replicas remain in the same Region but can be in a different AZ for better availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Read replicas can be placed in different Availability Zones than the primary DB instance
Why this is correct
Read replicas can be in different AZs to improve availability and fault tolerance.
- ✓
The application EC2 instances must be in the same VPC as the RDS instance
Why this is correct
EC2 instances can connect to RDS using private IPs within the same VPC.
- ✓
A security group rule must allow inbound traffic from the application subnets on port 3306
Why this is correct
MySQL uses port 3306; the security group must allow traffic from the application tier.
- ✗
Read replicas must be in public subnets with public IP addresses
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas should be in private subnets for security; public IPs are not required.
- ✗
Read replicas must be in the same Region as the primary DB instance
Why it's wrong here
Read replicas can be in different Regions (cross-Region read replicas).
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ANS-C01 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 ANS-C01 exam.