ANS-C01 Network Management and Operations Practice Question
A company uses AWS Direct Connect with a private virtual interface (VIF) to connect its data center to a VPC. The network team needs to ensure high availability and failover in case the primary connection fails. Which solution provides the most cost-effective 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 a second Direct Connect connection at a different AWS Direct Connect location and configure BGP with AS_PATH prepending
Provisioning a second Direct Connect connection at a different AWS Direct Connect location provides geographic redundancy, and configuring BGP with AS_PATH prepending on the secondary connection ensures the primary connection is preferred under normal conditions. This offers high availability without relying on internet-based VPN, which, while cheaper, introduces variability and lower reliability. Option A (VPN over internet) is less costly but does not guarantee the same level of performance or reliability for hybrid networking. Option C (VPN over same Direct Connect) fails because it shares the same physical connection, creating a single point of failure. Option D (second private VIF on same connection) also shares the same physical infrastructure, so it does not provide true redundancy.
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 VPN connection over the internet as a backup
Why it's wrong here
Less reliable and higher latency but could be cheaper; however, the question asks for most cost-effective high availability, and two Direct Connects are more reliable.
- ✓
Provision a second Direct Connect connection at a different AWS Direct Connect location and configure BGP with AS_PATH prepending
Why this is correct
Provides diverse path and failover.
- ✗
Use a VPN connection over the same Direct Connect connection as backup
Why it's wrong here
Still relies on the same connection.
- ✗
Provision a second private virtual interface on the same Direct Connect connection
Why it's wrong here
Single point of failure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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