ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
A financial services company must meet PCI DSS compliance requirements. The company's VPC contains a web server in a public subnet and an application server in a private subnet. The application server must communicate with a third-party payment gateway over the internet, but the security team prohibits using an Elastic IP address or a NAT gateway due to auditing concerns. Which solution satisfies these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume a NAT gateway or proxy is required for outbound internet access, but PrivateLink provides a private, internet-free connection to third-party services, directly addressing the auditing and compliance constraints.
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
✓
Use AWS PrivateLink to connect to the payment gateway via a VPC Endpoint Service
AWS PrivateLink allows the application server in the private subnet to connect to the third-party payment gateway via a VPC Endpoint Service without traversing the internet, using private IP addresses. This eliminates the need for an Elastic IP address or a NAT gateway, satisfying the security team's auditing concerns while meeting PCI DSS compliance requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy a NAT instance in the public subnet and route traffic through it
Why it's wrong here
A NAT instance requires an Elastic IP address, which is prohibited by the security team.
- ✗
Configure a proxy server in the public subnet and have the application server use the proxy
Why it's wrong here
A proxy server in a public subnet would typically have a public IP, which is not allowed.
- ✓
Use AWS PrivateLink to connect to the payment gateway via a VPC Endpoint Service
Why this is correct
PrivateLink enables private connectivity to services over the AWS network, avoiding public IPs and internet transit, meeting compliance requirements.
- ✗
Attach an Internet Gateway to the VPC and use a default route to 0.0.0.0/0 in the private subnet
Why it's wrong here
Without a NAT device, private instances cannot initiate outbound traffic to the internet even with an IGW.
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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.