ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A company wants to securely connect two VPCs in the same region. The VPCs must be able to communicate using private IP addresses, and connectivity should be highly available. Which solution meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
AWS often tests the misconception that a VPN connection is required for private IP communication between VPCs, but VPC peering provides direct, private, and highly available connectivity without the overhead of VPN tunnels.
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 a VPC peering connection between the two VPCs.
A VPC peering connection allows two VPCs in the same region to communicate using private IPv4 or IPv6 addresses as if they were on the same network, with no single point of failure. It is highly available by design since traffic flows directly between the VPCs using the AWS global network infrastructure, without any intermediate devices or bandwidth limits.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set up a VPN connection between the two VPCs using virtual private gateways.
Why it's wrong here
Setting up a VPN connection between two VPCs using virtual private gateways is incorrect because VGWs are primarily designed to connect a single VPC to an on-premises network via a Site-to-Site VPN. While a VPN can provide private IP communication and high availability, this approach is not the native or most efficient solution for connecting two VPCs within the same AWS region. This option is tempting as it facilitates secure, private connectivity, and would be the correct choice if the requirement was to connect an on-premises data centre to a single VPC.
- ✗
Create an inter-region VPC peering connection.
Why it's wrong here
Inter-region peering is for VPCs in different regions; this is same region.
- ✓
Create a VPC peering connection between the two VPCs.
Why this is correct
VPC peering provides low-latency, private connectivity between VPCs in the same region.
- ✗
Use an AWS Transit Gateway to connect the two VPCs.
Why it's wrong here
Transit Gateway introduces unnecessary architectural complexity and additional inter-region/inter-VPC data processing costs for a simple two-VPC connection. While it provides high availability through its managed service structure, this solution is designed for hub-and-spoke topologies involving dozens or hundreds of VPCs and on-premises networks. For connecting only two VPCs in the same region, VPC Peering satisfies the private IP requirement without the overhead of a central gateway.
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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.