ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company wants to allow its employees to securely access internal applications hosted in a VPC without traversing the internet. The company also wants to be able to enforce security policies at the user level. Which AWS service should the company use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse network-level connectivity services (Direct Connect, Site-to-Site VPN) with user-level remote access solutions, overlooking that only Client VPN provides per-user authentication and policy enforcement for individual employees.
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
✓
AWS Client VPN
AWS Client VPN is a managed, cloud-based VPN service that allows employees to securely access internal applications hosted in a VPC from any location without traversing the internet. It uses OpenVPN-based client software and integrates with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Active Directory to enforce security policies at the user level, such as group-based access controls and multi-factor authentication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Bastion host in a public subnet
Why it's wrong here
Bastion host does not enforce user-level policies.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is a dedicated physical connection.
- ✗
AWS Site-to-Site VPN
Why it's wrong here
Site-to-Site VPN is for network-to-network connectivity.
- ✓
AWS Client VPN
Why this is correct
Client VPN provides per-user secure access to VPC.
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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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on ANS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using AWS Client VPN to allow remote employees to access resources in a VPC. The VPN is configured with a server certificate and mutual authentication. Some users report that they cannot connect to the VPN. What should the administrator check FIRST?
easy- A.Check the security group associated with the VPN endpoint.
- B.Verify that the server certificate is uploaded to AWS Certificate Manager (ACM).
- C.Confirm that the VPN endpoint is associated with all subnets in the VPC.
- ✓ D.Verify that each user has a valid client certificate installed on their device.
Why D: The question states that mutual authentication is configured, which requires both a server certificate and a valid client certificate on each user's device. Since some users cannot connect while others presumably can, the most likely issue is that the affected users lack a valid client certificate. The administrator should first verify that each user has a valid client certificate installed, as this is a common point of failure in mutual TLS authentication.
Variation 2. A company wants to allow their employees to securely access resources in a VPC from their home offices. Which AWS service should they use?
easy- ✓ A.AWS Client VPN
- B.AWS Direct Connect
- C.AWS Site-to-Site VPN
- D.Amazon CloudFront
Why A: AWS Client VPN is a managed, cloud-based VPN service that allows individual users to securely access AWS resources from remote locations, such as home offices, using a VPN client installed on their device. It supports OpenVPN-based connections and integrates with Active Directory for user authentication, making it ideal for remote employee access to a VPC without requiring dedicated hardware or complex site-to-site configurations.
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.