The correct combination is AWS Cloud Map for service discovery and AWS App Mesh for encryption in transit. Cloud Map enables microservices to locate each other by DNS name across multiple Availability Zones, while App Mesh uses Envoy sidecar proxies to enforce mutual TLS (mTLS) between services, encrypting all inter-service traffic without any application code changes. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to decouple service discovery from traffic encryption—a common trap is assuming Amazon ECS service discovery alone handles encryption, which it does not. Remember that Cloud Map handles the “where” (name resolution and health checks), and App Mesh handles the “how” (encrypted communication via mTLS). A useful memory tip: “Cloud Map finds the path, App Mesh locks the latch.”
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 network for a containerized microservices application running on Amazon ECS. The application consists of several microservices that need to communicate with each other. The company wants to use service discovery so that services can find each other by name. They also want to ensure that traffic between services is encrypted in transit. The microservices are deployed across multiple Availability Zones. Which combination of services should the company use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS Cloud Map for service discovery and AWS App Mesh for encryption in transit
AWS Cloud Map provides service discovery by registering microservices with DNS names and health checks, allowing ECS tasks to resolve each other by name. AWS App Mesh uses Envoy sidecar proxies to enforce mutual TLS (mTLS) encryption between services, ensuring traffic is encrypted in transit without requiring changes to application code. This combination meets the requirements for name-based discovery and encrypted inter-service communication across multiple Availability Zones.
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.
✓
Use AWS Cloud Map for service discovery and AWS App Mesh for encryption in transit
Why this is correct
Cloud Map provides service discovery; App Mesh provides encryption.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use an Application Load Balancer for each service and configure HTTPS listeners
Why it's wrong here
ALB is for external traffic, not for inter-service communication.
✗
Use VPC peering between each service's VPC
Why it's wrong here
Services are in the same VPC, so VPC peering is not needed.
✗
Use Amazon Route 53 private hosted zones for service discovery and enable encryption at the application layer
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 does not provide encryption.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse service discovery with load balancing or assume that a private hosted zone alone provides encryption, when in fact DNS-based discovery (Route 53) only resolves names and requires a separate mechanism like App Mesh or mTLS to encrypt traffic in transit.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS App Mesh integrates with AWS Cloud Map to automatically register Envoy proxy endpoints, enabling mTLS using certificates from AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) or a private certificate authority. The Envoy proxies intercept all traffic between microservices via the sidecar pattern, applying encryption and routing rules without modifying application containers. In a multi-AZ deployment, Cloud Map supports health checks and DNS failover, ensuring services resolve to healthy endpoints across zones.
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
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Design — This question tests Network Design — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Cloud Map for service discovery and AWS App Mesh for encryption in transit — AWS Cloud Map provides service discovery by registering microservices with DNS names and health checks, allowing ECS tasks to resolve each other by name. AWS App Mesh uses Envoy sidecar proxies to enforce mutual TLS (mTLS) encryption between services, ensuring traffic is encrypted in transit without requiring changes to application code. This combination meets the requirements for name-based discovery and encrypted inter-service communication across multiple Availability Zones.
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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Question Discussion
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