ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company is setting up a Site-to-Site VPN connection between their on-premises network and AWS. Which THREE components are required for a VPN connection?
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that a Transit Gateway is a required component for a Site-to-Site VPN, but the correct required components are only the VPN Tunnel, Virtual Private Gateway, and Customer Gateway.
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
✓
VPN Tunnel
A VPN tunnel is a required component for an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection because it provides the encrypted, secure communication channel between the on-premises customer gateway and the AWS virtual private gateway. Each VPN connection consists of two tunnels for high availability, each using IPsec (IKEv1 or IKEv2) to encrypt traffic. Without at least one VPN tunnel, no encrypted data can traverse the VPN connection.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
VPN Tunnel
Why this is correct
Encrypted connection.
- ✗
Transit Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Optional, not required for basic VPN.
- ✗
Internet Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Not needed for VPN.
- ✓
Virtual Private Gateway
Why this is correct
Required on AWS side.
- ✓
Customer Gateway
Why this is correct
Represents on-premises device.
Quick reference
VPN Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Port | Encryption | Authentication | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKEv2 / IPsec | UDP 500 / 4500 | AES-256 | Certificates / PSK | Site-to-site & remote access |
| SSL / TLS VPN | TCP 443 | TLS 1.3 | Certificates / MFA | Clientless remote access |
| L2TP / IPsec | UDP 1701 | AES (IPsec) | PSK / Certificates | Legacy remote access |
| WireGuard | UDP 51820 | ChaCha20 | Public keys | Modern high-performance VPN |
| PPTP | TCP 1723 | MPPE (weak) | MS-CHAPv2 | Legacy — avoid in production |
PPTP is considered insecure. IKEv2/IPsec and SSL VPN are the current recommended options.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every ANS-C01 question from scratch — 1,621 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. 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.