The answer is two AWS Direct Connect connections, two Customer Gateways, and two Virtual Private Gateways. This trio eliminates all single points of failure by creating redundant physical paths and redundant termination points on both sides of the hybrid link. On your side, a pair of Customer Gateways ensures that if one on-premises router fails, traffic can still flow through the other. On the AWS side, two Virtual Private Gateways provide failover for the logical termination of the Direct Connect virtual interfaces. For the ANS-C01 exam, this question tests your grasp of the “no single point of failure” principle in hybrid networking—a common trap is assuming a single VPN backup suffices, but the question specifically asks for Direct Connect components, not a VPN. Remember the memory tip: “Two of everything on both ends”—two connections, two on-prem gateways, two cloud gateways—to guarantee true high availability.
ANS-C01 Network Design Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network design. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 company is designing a hybrid network using AWS Direct Connect. They need to ensure high availability and failover. Which THREE components should be deployed to meet these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Two Customer Gateways (CGWs).
Options A, C, and D are correct. Two Direct Connect connections (A) provide redundancy. Two Customer Gateways (C) ensure redundant on-premises termination. Two Virtual Private Gateways (D) provide redundant AWS-side termination. Option B is wrong because a single connection is a single point of failure. Option E is wrong because a VPN connection is not required if Direct Connect is used.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
A single AWS Direct Connect connection.
Why it's wrong here
Single connection is a single point of failure.
✓
Two Customer Gateways (CGWs).
Why this is correct
Two CGWs provide on-premises redundancy.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✓
Two Virtual Private Gateways (VGWs).
Why this is correct
Two VGWs provide AWS-side redundancy.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✓
Two AWS Direct Connect connections.
Why this is correct
Two connections provide physical redundancy.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
An AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection as backup.
Why it's wrong here
VPN is not required; Direct Connect with redundant connections provides failover.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related ANS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Two Customer Gateways (CGWs). — Options A, C, and D are correct. Two Direct Connect connections (A) provide redundancy. Two Customer Gateways (C) ensure redundant on-premises termination. Two Virtual Private Gateways (D) provide redundant AWS-side termination. Option B is wrong because a single connection is a single point of failure. Option E is wrong because a VPN connection is not required if Direct Connect is used.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related ANS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
About these practice questions
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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 designing a hybrid network using AWS Direct Connect. They want to ensure high availability and minimize downtime. Which TWO actions should they take?
medium
✓ A.Set up a site-to-site VPN as a backup for the Direct Connect connection
B.Use a single customer router for both connections
C.Provision a single Direct Connect connection with two virtual interfaces
✓ D.Provision Direct Connect connections at two different Direct Connect locations
E.Use the same BGP ASN on both Direct Connect connections
Why A: Options B and D are correct. Using two separate Direct Connect locations provides geographic redundancy. Having a VPN backup provides failover if Direct Connect fails. Option A is wrong because a single connection is a single point of failure. Option C is wrong because a single router is a SPOF. Option E is wrong because using the same ASN on both connections is fine, but not specifically for HA.
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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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