ANS-C01 Network Management and Operations Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network management and operations. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 network engineer is troubleshooting a VPN connection that is not passing traffic. The tunnel status shows as 'UP'. Which THREE steps should the engineer take to diagnose the issue?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Ensure that the security groups for instances allow inbound traffic from the on-premises network
Option A is correct because security groups act as a virtual firewall for instances, controlling inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level. Even if the VPN tunnel is up, traffic will be dropped if the security group does not explicitly allow inbound traffic from the on-premises network's IP range. This is a common misconfiguration that prevents traffic flow despite a healthy tunnel.
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.
✓
Ensure that the security groups for instances allow inbound traffic from the on-premises network
Why this is correct
Security groups can block traffic even if the VPN is up.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Confirm that the on-premises router is advertising the correct routes via BGP
Why this is correct
BGP must advertise routes to the VPC for traffic to return.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Check the IKE and IPSEC settings on the customer gateway
Why it's wrong here
Tunnel is UP, so IKE/IPSEC settings are likely correct.
✓
Verify that the VPC route table has a route to the on-premises network via the virtual private gateway
Why this is correct
Without a route, traffic won't be sent to the VPN.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Check the internet gateway route table for the VPC
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume a 'UP' tunnel guarantees traffic flow, but AWS often tests that Layer 3 routing and security group rules are separate from tunnel status and must be verified independently.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When a VPN tunnel is 'UP', it means Phase 1 (IKE) and Phase 2 (IPsec) have successfully established, but traffic flow depends on proper route propagation and firewall rules. BGP (Option B) is critical for dynamic route exchange between the on-premises router and the virtual private gateway; if the on-premises router does not advertise the correct prefixes, the VPC will not have a route to the on-premises network. Additionally, the VPC route table (Option D) must include a route pointing to the virtual private gateway for the on-premises CIDR; without it, traffic from instances will not be directed into the VPN tunnel.
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 Management and Operations — This question tests Network Management and Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Ensure that the security groups for instances allow inbound traffic from the on-premises network — Option A is correct because security groups act as a virtual firewall for instances, controlling inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level. Even if the VPN tunnel is up, traffic will be dropped if the security group does not explicitly allow inbound traffic from the on-premises network's IP range. This is a common misconfiguration that prevents traffic flow despite a healthy tunnel.
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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