Using Direct Connect Gateway to Connect Multiple VPCs in the Same AWS Region
A company has a Direct Connect connection with a private VIF to a VPC. They want to extend this connectivity to multiple VPCs in the same region without creating additional VIFs. Which solution should they implement?
Quick Answer
The answer is to use a Direct Connect Gateway and attach the VPCs. This is correct because a Direct Connect Gateway acts as a central hub that allows a single private virtual interface (VIF) to connect to multiple VPCs, even within the same AWS region, without requiring additional VIFs or multiple physical connections. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to scale Direct Connect connectivity efficiently, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly consider creating extra VIFs or using VPC peering, which only handles inter-VPC routing rather than extending a single physical connection. A common memory tip is to think of the Direct Connect Gateway as a “multi-VPC adapter” for your private VIF—it enables one pipe to serve many VPCs, eliminating the need for redundant infrastructure.
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse VPC peering with a Direct Connect Gateway, thinking that peering can extend the Direct Connect connection, but VPC peering does not propagate routes from the on-premises network to the peered VPCs without additional transitive routing configurations.
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 a Direct Connect Gateway and attach the VPCs
A Direct Connect Gateway (DX Gateway) is a managed service that allows you to associate a single private virtual interface (VIF) with up to 10 VPCs in the same AWS Region (or across Regions with inter-region peering). This enables the company to extend their existing Direct Connect connection to multiple VPCs without provisioning additional VIFs, simplifying management and reducing costs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Provision additional private VIFs for each VPC
Why it's wrong here
Additional VIFs increase complexity and cost.
- ✗
Use VPC peering between the VPCs
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering does not integrate with Direct Connect.
- ✗
Use a Transit VPC with VPN connections
Why it's wrong here
Transit VPC uses VPN, which may not provide the same performance as Direct Connect.
- ✓
Use a Direct Connect Gateway and attach the VPCs
Why this is correct
Direct Connect Gateway enables a single VIF to connect to multiple VPCs.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every ANS-C01 question from scratch — 1,621 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on ANS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is using AWS Direct Connect with a private virtual interface (VIF) to connect its on-premises data center to a VPC. The VPC has a virtual private gateway (VGW) attached. The company has recently added a second VPC and wants to use the same Direct Connect connection to access both VPCs. The network engineer proposes using a Direct Connect gateway (DXGW) with two private VIFs, one for each VPC. However, the engineer wants to minimize complexity and cost. Which configuration should the engineer use to allow both VPCs to use the same Direct Connect connection?
medium- ✓ A.Create a Direct Connect gateway and associate it with the private VIF. Then associate both VPCs' virtual private gateways with the Direct Connect gateway.
- B.Create a private VIF for each VPC on the same Direct Connect connection.
- C.Create a public virtual interface on the Direct Connect connection and attach both VPCs to it.
- D.Create a single private VIF and attach both VPCs directly to it.
Why A: A Direct Connect gateway (DXGW) can be associated with a single private virtual interface (VIF) and then attached to multiple virtual private gateways (VGWs) in different VPCs, allowing both VPCs to use the same Direct Connect connection with minimal complexity and cost. Option B is incorrect because it requires creating two private VIFs, increasing cost and complexity. Option C is incorrect because a public VIF is used for accessing public AWS services, not for connecting to VPCs. Option D is incorrect because a single private VIF cannot be directly attached to multiple VPCs; a DXGW is needed to aggregate the connections.
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.