This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network implementation. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 uses AWS Direct Connect with a private VIF to connect to a VPC. They also have a VPN connection as a backup. How should they configure BGP to ensure that the VPN is only used when Direct Connect fails?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use a higher local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session
Local preference is a BGP attribute used to influence outbound traffic from an AS. By setting a higher local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session, the router will prefer that path over the VPN session. When Direct Connect fails, the BGP session goes down, and the VPN route becomes the only available path, ensuring seamless failover.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 lower local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session
Why it's wrong here
Lower local preference makes it less preferred.
✗
Use a lower AS path prepend on the VPN BGP session
Why it's wrong here
AS path prepend makes a route less preferred; lower prepend would not help.
✓
Use a higher local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session
Why this is correct
Higher local preference makes the Direct Connect route preferred.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a higher MED on the VPN BGP session
Why it's wrong here
MED is used to influence inbound traffic; local preference is for outbound.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse local preference (influences outbound path selection) with MED (influences inbound path selection) or AS path prepending (also influences inbound selection), leading them to choose options that would not achieve the desired primary/backup behavior for outbound traffic.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Local preference is an optional non-transitive BGP attribute that is exchanged only within the local AS (iBGP). It has a default value of 100; a higher value (e.g., 200) makes the route more preferred. In a Direct Connect + VPN backup scenario, the Direct Connect BGP session typically uses a private VIF, and the VPN uses a public VIF or a separate BGP session. Setting local preference on the Direct Connect session ensures that all outbound traffic from the VPC uses Direct Connect, while the VPN remains as a backup route that is only used when the Direct Connect BGP session is withdrawn.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Implementation — This question tests Network Implementation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a higher local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session — Local preference is a BGP attribute used to influence outbound traffic from an AS. By setting a higher local preference on the Direct Connect BGP session, the router will prefer that path over the VPN session. When Direct Connect fails, the BGP session goes down, and the VPN route becomes the only available path, ensuring seamless failover.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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