ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company has a VPC with public and private subnets. An EC2 instance in a private subnet needs to download patches from an S3 bucket in the same AWS region. The company wants to ensure that traffic does not traverse the internet. Which solution is MOST cost-effective?
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
✓
Create a Gateway VPC Endpoint for S3 and add a route in the private subnet's route table to the endpoint.
The most cost-effective solution because a Gateway VPC Endpoint for S3 provides private connectivity to S3 without any hourly charges, and it does not require a NAT Gateway or Internet Gateway. Option A is incorrect because an Internet Gateway would route traffic through the internet, which violates the requirement and is not cost-effective. Option C is incorrect because an Interface VPC Endpoint for S3 incurs hourly charges, making it more expensive than a Gateway Endpoint. Option D is incorrect because a NAT Gateway also incurs hourly and data processing charges, and it routes traffic through the internet, which is not desired.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Attach an Internet Gateway to the VPC and route the private subnet traffic directly to S3.
Why it's wrong here
An Internet Gateway would not work because private subnets cannot route directly to an IGW without a NAT; also it would use internet.
- ✓
Create a Gateway VPC Endpoint for S3 and add a route in the private subnet's route table to the endpoint.
Why this is correct
Gateway VPC Endpoints are free and allow private access to S3 without internet.
- ✗
Create an Interface VPC Endpoint for S3 in the private subnet.
Why it's wrong here
Interface Endpoints for S3 incur hourly charges; Gateway Endpoints are free.
- ✗
Deploy a NAT Gateway in a public subnet and route the private subnet traffic through it to access S3.
Why it's wrong here
This would incur NAT Gateway costs and use internet, not private connectivity.
Visual reference
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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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.