- A
Deploy a single EC2 instance in one Availability Zone with an Elastic IP address.
Why wrong: This design is not fault-tolerant; if the AZ fails, the application becomes unavailable.
- B
Use an Application Load Balancer in front of an Auto Scaling group spanning three Availability Zones.
ALB distributes traffic across multiple AZs and instances, providing fault tolerance and scalability.
- C
Deploy EC2 instances in a single Availability Zone and use Route 53 weighted routing.
Why wrong: A single AZ is a single point of failure; Route 53 weighted routing does not provide automatic failover.
- D
Use a Network Load Balancer with a single EC2 instance in each AZ.
Why wrong: NLB operates at layer 4 and does not support HTTP path-based routing; also, static instances do not provide elasticity.
ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
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 is deploying a multi-tier web application across three Availability Zones in a single AWS Region. The web tier must be fault-tolerant and scale horizontally. Which network design provides the highest availability and scalability?
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
Use an Application Load Balancer in front of an Auto Scaling group spanning three Availability Zones.
Option B is correct because an Application Load Balancer distributes traffic across multiple AZs and instances, providing high availability and scalability. Option A is wrong because a single instance in one AZ is not fault-tolerant. Option C is wrong because Network Load Balancer operates at layer 4 and does not support path-based routing for web applications. Option D is wrong because using only one AZ reduces fault tolerance.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy a single EC2 instance in one Availability Zone with an Elastic IP address.
Why it's wrong here
This design is not fault-tolerant; if the AZ fails, the application becomes unavailable.
- ✓
Use an Application Load Balancer in front of an Auto Scaling group spanning three Availability Zones.
Why this is correct
ALB distributes traffic across multiple AZs and instances, providing fault tolerance and scalability.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- ✗
Deploy EC2 instances in a single Availability Zone and use Route 53 weighted routing.
Why it's wrong here
A single AZ is a single point of failure; Route 53 weighted routing does not provide automatic failover.
- ✗
Use a Network Load Balancer with a single EC2 instance in each AZ.
Why it's wrong here
NLB operates at layer 4 and does not support HTTP path-based routing; also, static instances do not provide elasticity.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related ANS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ANS-C01 question test?
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use an Application Load Balancer in front of an Auto Scaling group spanning three Availability Zones. — Option B is correct because an Application Load Balancer distributes traffic across multiple AZs and instances, providing high availability and scalability. Option A is wrong because a single instance in one AZ is not fault-tolerant. Option C is wrong because Network Load Balancer operates at layer 4 and does not support path-based routing for web applications. Option D is wrong because using only one AZ reduces fault tolerance.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related ANS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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