ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company is migrating its on-premises data center to AWS. The network team needs to design a hybrid connectivity solution that provides high availability with a bandwidth of at least 10 Gbps and low latency for real-time data replication. The company has two redundant on-premises routers connected to two separate internet service providers (ISPs). Which combination of AWS services should the company use to meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume a single Direct Connect connection with redundant routers on-premises is sufficient for high availability, but they overlook that the Direct Connect connection itself (including the physical fiber and the AWS Direct Connect location) is a single point of failure, requiring two separate connections at different locations to meet true high availability.
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
✓
Provision two AWS Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations, each with a 10 Gbps port, and connect each on-premises router to one of them.
Provisioning two AWS Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations, each with a 10 Gbps port, and connecting each on-premises router to one of them provides both high availability (via geographic and path redundancy) and the required 10 Gbps bandwidth with low latency for real-time data replication. This design eliminates single points of failure and meets the bandwidth requirement without relying on VPNs, which cannot guarantee consistent low latency or 10 Gbps throughput.
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 AWS Direct Connect Gateway to aggregate multiple VPN connections to achieve higher bandwidth.
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect Gateway does not provide the physical connection; it is used to connect multiple VPCs to a Direct Connect.
- ✗
Provision a single AWS Direct Connect connection with a 10 Gbps port and connect both on-premises routers to it via a single interface.
Why it's wrong here
Single Direct Connect connection is a single point of failure.
- ✓
Provision two AWS Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations, each with a 10 Gbps port, and connect each on-premises router to one of them.
Why this is correct
Provides high availability and meets bandwidth/latency requirements.
- ✗
Set up two AWS Site-to-Site VPN tunnels from each on-premises router to two different AWS VPN endpoints in the same region.
Why it's wrong here
VPN throughput is limited and may not meet 10 Gbps requirement.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on ANS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is designing a hybrid network connecting an on-premises data center to AWS via AWS Direct Connect. The company requires high availability and wants to avoid a single point of failure. Which design meets these requirements?
easy- A.Provision a single Direct Connect connection with multiple virtual interfaces (VIFs).
- B.Provision one Direct Connect connection with two VLANs to separate production and non-production traffic.
- C.Use a single Direct Connect connection and a VPN backup over the internet.
- ✓ D.Provision two Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations.
Why D: Provisioning two Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations eliminates any single point of failure. This design ensures that if one connection or location fails, traffic can automatically fail over to the other connection, meeting the high availability requirement. A single Direct Connect connection, regardless of the number of VIFs or VLANs, remains a single point of failure.
Variation 2. A company is designing a hybrid network connecting on-premises data centers to AWS via AWS Direct Connect. The company requires high availability with multiple connections. Which design ensures that a failure of a single Direct Connect location does not impact connectivity?
medium- A.Provision a single Direct Connect connection with a large bandwidth.
- ✓ B.Provision two Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations.
- C.Provision two Direct Connect connections at the same AWS Direct Connect location.
- D.Provision one Direct Connect connection and one AWS Site-to-Site VPN as backup.
Why B: Deploying two Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations ensures that a single location failure (e.g., power outage, fiber cut, or facility issue) does not affect connectivity. This design provides geographic redundancy, meeting the high availability requirement by eliminating a single point of failure at the Direct Connect location level.
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.