This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network security, compliance and governance. 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 security team requires that all traffic between Amazon EC2 instances in different subnets of a VPC be logged. Which AWS service should be used to capture and log the traffic?
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata and can be logged to CloudWatch Logs or S3.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail records API activity, not network traffic.
VPC Traffic Mirroring
Why wrong: Traffic Mirroring copies traffic for analysis but does not inherently log it.
AWS Config
Why wrong: AWS Config records resource configuration changes, not traffic data.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
VPC Flow Logs
Option B is correct because VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic information and can be published to CloudWatch Logs or S3. Option A is wrong because AWS CloudTrail logs API calls, not network traffic. Option C is wrong because VPC Traffic Mirroring captures traffic for analysis but is not primarily for logging. Option D is wrong because AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata and can be logged to CloudWatch Logs or S3.
Related concept
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API activity, not network traffic.
VPC Traffic Mirroring
Why it's wrong here
Traffic Mirroring copies traffic for analysis but does not inherently log it.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration changes, not traffic data.
Common exam traps
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ANS-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
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FAQ
Network Security, Compliance and Governance — This question tests Network Security, Compliance and Governance — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
The correct answer is: VPC Flow Logs — Option B is correct because VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic information and can be published to CloudWatch Logs or S3. Option A is wrong because AWS CloudTrail logs API calls, not network traffic. Option C is wrong because VPC Traffic Mirroring captures traffic for analysis but is not primarily for logging. Option D is wrong because AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ANS-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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