ANS-C01 Network Management and Operations Practice Question
A company uses AWS Direct Connect with a public VIF to access Amazon S3. The network team notices that the latency to S3 increases significantly during peak hours. They have tested the connection and confirmed that the physical link is not saturated. The company uses a single Direct Connect connection. The S3 traffic is routed over the public VIF. The team wants to improve performance without adding a new Direct Connect connection. Which action should the team take to reduce latency?
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
✓
Create an S3 Gateway Endpoint in the VPC and route S3 traffic through a private VIF attached to the VPC.
Using a Direct Connect gateway allows you to connect to multiple VPCs and also to AWS public services via a private VIF. However, for S3, you can use a private VIF with a VPC interface endpoint (Gateway Endpoint for S3) to keep traffic within the AWS network and avoid internet transit. This reduces latency because traffic goes from Direct Connect to the VPC and then to S3 via the gateway endpoint. Option B (adding VPN) adds IPSec overhead. Option C uses a different AWS region, which may increase latency. Option D (adding a second Direct Connect) is not allowed per the question.
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 an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection over the Direct Connect to access S3 via private IP.
Why it's wrong here
Adds overhead and may reduce performance.
- ✗
Add a second Direct Connect connection to load balance traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Not allowed per question; also may not reduce latency if the issue is routing.
- ✗
Configure the Direct Connect public VIF to use a different AWS region closer to the on-premises location.
Why it's wrong here
S3 is global, but routing to a different region may increase latency.
- ✓
Create an S3 Gateway Endpoint in the VPC and route S3 traffic through a private VIF attached to the VPC.
Why this is correct
Gateway Endpoint keeps traffic within AWS and reduces latency compared to public VIF.
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
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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.