The answer is VPC Peering, as it establishes a direct, private network connection between two VPCs using AWS’s internal infrastructure, ensuring traffic never traverses the public internet. This solution meets both requirements because all inter-VPC traffic over a peering connection remains within the AWS global network, and encryption is inherently provided by the underlying physical layer security of AWS data centers, requiring no additional configuration. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of private connectivity options versus VPN or internet gateway solutions; a common trap is assuming you need a VPN or Transit Gateway for encryption, but VPC Peering already satisfies the “no public internet” condition by routing traffic over AWS’s private backbone. Remember the memory tip: “Peering is private, no internet required—encryption is built into the wire.”
ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 wants to ensure that traffic between two VPCs in the same region is encrypted and does not traverse the public internet. Which solution meets these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure VPC Peering between the two VPCs
VPC Peering (Option A) is correct because it establishes a direct, private network connection between two VPCs using AWS's internal infrastructure, ensuring traffic never traverses the public internet. All inter-VPC traffic over a VPC peering connection remains within the AWS global network, and encryption is inherently provided by the underlying physical layer security of AWS data centers, meeting both requirements without additional configuration.
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.
✓
Configure VPC Peering between the two VPCs
Why this is correct
Correct; VPC Peering uses the AWS private network and ensures traffic does not traverse the internet.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create VPC Endpoints in each VPC for the other VPC's CIDR
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; VPC Endpoints are for AWS services, not for VPC-to-VPC connectivity.
✗
Use an AWS Transit Gateway to route traffic between the VPCs
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; Transit Gateway does not encrypt traffic; it uses the AWS backbone.
✗
Establish an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection between the VPCs
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect; VPNs use the public internet for the tunnels, even if encrypted.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the misconception that Transit Gateway inherently encrypts traffic, but it only provides routing; candidates must remember that encryption requires explicit IPsec or VPN configuration, whereas VPC Peering meets the 'encrypted and no public internet' requirement by default through AWS's private network.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Peering uses the existing AWS infrastructure to route traffic via private IP addresses, leveraging the same physical network as EC2 instances, with no single point of failure or bandwidth bottleneck. Traffic over a VPC peering connection is encrypted by default at the physical layer (e.g., MACsec on AWS hardware), and AWS guarantees that packets never leave its controlled environment, meeting compliance requirements like PCI DSS. In a real-world scenario, a financial services company might use VPC peering to connect a production VPC to a logging VPC, ensuring low-latency, encrypted data transfer without additional cost for VPN tunnels.
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 Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure VPC Peering between the two VPCs — VPC Peering (Option A) is correct because it establishes a direct, private network connection between two VPCs using AWS's internal infrastructure, ensuring traffic never traverses the public internet. All inter-VPC traffic over a VPC peering connection remains within the AWS global network, and encryption is inherently provided by the underlying physical layer security of AWS data centers, meeting both requirements without additional configuration.
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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