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 needs to provide internet access to instances in a private subnet while preventing inbound connections from the internet. Which AWS service should be used?
NAT Gateway
Provides outbound only.
Internet Gateway
Why wrong: Allows inbound traffic.
AWS Direct Connect
Why wrong: Private connection to AWS.
VPC Endpoint
Why wrong: For private access to AWS services.
Answer choices
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 any unsolicited inbound connections from the internet. It achieves this by translating the private source IP addresses of the instances to the NAT Gateway's Elastic IP address, and by default it does not allow inbound traffic unless an explicit inbound rule is added to the associated route table, which is not recommended for this use case.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
NAT Gateway
Why this is correct
Provides outbound only.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Internet Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Allows inbound traffic.
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Private connection to AWS.
VPC Endpoint
Why it's wrong here
For private access to AWS services.
Common exam traps
AWS often tests the misconception that an Internet Gateway can be used in a private subnet with restrictive security groups or network ACLs, but the trap is that an Internet Gateway inherently allows bidirectional traffic and cannot prevent unsolicited inbound connections at the gateway level, whereas a NAT Gateway is specifically designed for outbound-only internet access.
Detailed technical explanation
A NAT Gateway operates at Layer 4 (TCP/UDP) and performs source network address translation (SNAT) using a single Elastic IP per Availability Zone. It maintains stateful connections, meaning it tracks outbound flows and allows return traffic only for those flows, effectively dropping any unsolicited inbound packets. In a real-world scenario, if an instance in a private subnet needs to download patches from an external repository, the NAT Gateway translates the private IP (e.g., 10.0.1.5) to its Elastic IP (e.g., 203.0.113.5) and forwards the packet; the response is sent back to the Elastic IP, which the NAT Gateway then translates back to the private IP, ensuring the instance remains unreachable from the internet.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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FAQ
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: 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 any unsolicited inbound connections from the internet. It achieves this by translating the private source IP addresses of the instances to the NAT Gateway's Elastic IP address, and by default it does not allow inbound traffic unless an explicit inbound rule is added to the associated route table, which is not recommended for this use case.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 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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