- A
Use Amazon Route 53 weighted routing to distribute traffic to each AZ
Why wrong: Weighted routing does not provide automatic failover; health checks can be configured but it's not as seamless as a load balancer.
- B
Deploy an internal NLB per Availability Zone, with each NLB only registering targets in its own AZ, and an internet-facing Application Load Balancer (ALB) with targets in all AZs
This keeps traffic within the AZ for lowest latency, and the ALB provides failover across AZs.
- C
Use a single internal Classic Load Balancer across all AZs
Why wrong: Classic Load Balancer does not support cross-zone load balancing disabling and is not recommended for modern architectures.
- D
Deploy an internal Network Load Balancer (NLB) in a single AZ and route traffic from other AZs through it
Why wrong: This creates a single point of failure and adds cross-AZ latency.
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 deploying a critical application across multiple Availability Zones in a single AWS Region. They need a network design that provides the lowest possible latency between application tiers and supports automatic failover if an AZ becomes unavailable. Which design meets these requirements?
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
Deploy an internal NLB per Availability Zone, with each NLB only registering targets in its own AZ, and an internet-facing Application Load Balancer (ALB) with targets in all AZs
Option B is correct because deploying an internal NLB per Availability Zone ensures cross-zone traffic is minimized, reducing latency between application tiers, while the internet-facing ALB provides automatic failover by distributing incoming traffic across healthy targets in all AZs. The NLB's per-AZ design keeps traffic within the same AZ for internal communication, and the ALB's health checks enable automatic rerouting if an AZ becomes unavailable.
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 Amazon Route 53 weighted routing to distribute traffic to each AZ
Why it's wrong here
Weighted routing does not provide automatic failover; health checks can be configured but it's not as seamless as a load balancer.
- ✓
Deploy an internal NLB per Availability Zone, with each NLB only registering targets in its own AZ, and an internet-facing Application Load Balancer (ALB) with targets in all AZs
Why this is correct
This keeps traffic within the AZ for lowest latency, and the ALB provides failover across AZs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a single internal Classic Load Balancer across all AZs
Why it's wrong here
Classic Load Balancer does not support cross-zone load balancing disabling and is not recommended for modern architectures.
- ✗
Deploy an internal Network Load Balancer (NLB) in a single AZ and route traffic from other AZs through it
Why it's wrong here
This creates a single point of failure and adds cross-AZ latency.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a single load balancer across all AZs is sufficient for low latency, but they overlook that cross-AZ traffic adds latency and that per-AZ NLBs with cross-zone load balancing disabled are required to keep traffic local.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, an NLB operates at Layer 4 and preserves the source IP address, which is critical for stateful applications; by disabling cross-zone load balancing on the internal NLBs, traffic stays within the same AZ, reducing inter-AZ data transfer costs and latency. The internet-facing ALB handles external traffic and performs health checks on targets across all AZs, automatically rerouting traffic away from failed AZs without DNS propagation delays, achieving sub-second failover.
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 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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this ANS-C01 question test?
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: Deploy an internal NLB per Availability Zone, with each NLB only registering targets in its own AZ, and an internet-facing Application Load Balancer (ALB) with targets in all AZs — Option B is correct because deploying an internal NLB per Availability Zone ensures cross-zone traffic is minimized, reducing latency between application tiers, while the internet-facing ALB provides automatic failover by distributing incoming traffic across healthy targets in all AZs. The NLB's per-AZ design keeps traffic within the same AZ for internal communication, and the ALB's health checks enable automatic rerouting if an AZ becomes unavailable.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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