SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a new serverless application using AWS Lambda. The application needs to access an Amazon RDS database. Which THREE steps are required to secure the database access? (Choose THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse IAM roles with direct database authentication, thinking that assigning an IAM role alone is sufficient without also configuring IAM database authentication on the RDS side, or they overlook the necessity of VPC placement for private network connectivity.
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
✓
Place the Lambda function in a VPC with access to the RDS instance
Placing the Lambda function in the same VPC as the RDS instance allows it to communicate over a private IP address, eliminating exposure to the public internet. This is essential for secure database access, as Lambda functions outside the VPC cannot directly connect to RDS instances that are not publicly accessible.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Place the Lambda function in a VPC with access to the RDS instance
Why this is correct
Lambda in VPC can access RDS.
- ✓
Enable encryption on the RDS instance
Why this is correct
Encryption protects data at rest.
- ✗
Store database credentials in the Lambda function code
Why it's wrong here
Credentials should not be hardcoded.
- ✓
Assign an IAM role to the Lambda function with permissions to connect to RDS
Why this is correct
IAM role grants permissions.
- ✗
Use a public IP address for the RDS instance
Why it's wrong here
Public IP is not secure.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 exam.