ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company needs to provide internet access to instances in a private subnet. The instances must not be directly accessible from the internet. Which AWS service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that an Internet Gateway can be used in a private subnet by simply not assigning public IPs, but the trap is that an IGW in a private subnet's route table would still allow direct inbound traffic if the instance has a public IP or if the IGW is misconfigured, whereas a NAT Gateway explicitly blocks unsolicited inbound connections by design.
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
✓
NAT Gateway
A NAT Gateway enables instances in a private subnet to initiate outbound IPv4 traffic to the internet (e.g., for software updates) while preventing unsolicited inbound connections from the internet. It resides in a public subnet with an Elastic IP and uses source network address translation (SNAT) to translate the private IPs of the instances to the gateway's public IP, ensuring the instances remain inaccessible from the outside.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
VPC Peering
Why it's wrong here
Used for VPC-to-VPC connectivity, not internet access.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Used for dedicated private connection to on-premises.
- ✗
Internet Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Allows inbound traffic from internet.
- ✓
NAT Gateway
Why this is correct
Provides outbound internet access for private instances.
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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.