ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company is designing a VPC with a public subnet for web servers and a private subnet for database servers. The web servers must be able to access the internet for software updates, but the database servers must not have direct internet access. Which solution meets these requirements?
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
✓
Deploy a NAT gateway in the public subnet and add a route to it in the private subnet's route table.
A NAT gateway in a public subnet allows instances in private subnets to initiate outbound traffic to the internet while preventing inbound traffic from the internet. Option A is incorrect because a VPC endpoint for Amazon S3 only provides private access to S3, not general internet access. Option C is incorrect because a VPN connection to an on-premises data center does not provide internet access; it connects to the on-premises network. Option D is incorrect because attaching an internet gateway to a private subnet's route table would allow direct inbound internet traffic, violating the requirement that database servers must not have direct internet access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a VPC endpoint for Amazon S3 to provide internet access to the database servers.
Why it's wrong here
A VPC endpoint only provides access to specific AWS services, not general internet access.
- ✓
Deploy a NAT gateway in the public subnet and add a route to it in the private subnet's route table.
Why this is correct
A NAT gateway allows outbound internet traffic from private subnets while blocking inbound traffic.
- ✗
Set up a VPN connection to an on-premises data center and route traffic through it.
Why it's wrong here
A VPN connection does not provide internet access; it only connects to on-premises networks.
- ✗
Attach an internet gateway to the VPC and add a route to it in the private subnet's route table.
Why it's wrong here
This would give the database servers direct internet access, violating the requirement.
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
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,621 original ANS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.