SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A company is migrating its on-premises Active Directory to AWS Managed Microsoft AD. The directory will be used for authentication across multiple VPCs in different accounts. The company needs to ensure that resources in all VPCs can resolve DNS names from the directory. What is the MOST scalable and secure solution?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume Route 53 private hosted zones alone can resolve Active Directory DNS names, but they cannot forward queries to an external DNS server without Route 53 Resolver outbound endpoints, making Option B a common distractor.
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 the directory in a shared services VPC in the management account. Use AWS Transit Gateway to connect all VPCs and configure the directory's DNS as a forwarder via Amazon Route 53 Resolver.
It centralizes the AWS Managed Microsoft AD in a shared services VPC, which is the most scalable and secure approach for cross-account and cross-VPC authentication and DNS resolution. AWS Transit Gateway provides a scalable hub-and-spoke network connectivity model, while Amazon Route 53 Resolver outbound endpoints forward DNS queries from all connected VPCs to the directory's DNS servers, ensuring consistent name resolution without exposing the directory to the internet or requiring per-VPC deployments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a VPN connection between each VPC and the on-premises AD, then use DNS forwarders.
Why it's wrong here
This does not leverage AWS Managed AD and adds VPN complexity.
- ✗
Use Amazon Route 53 private hosted zones and associate them with all VPCs.
Why it's wrong here
Private hosted zones can provide DNS, but they do not integrate with AD authentication.
- ✗
Deploy the directory in each VPC and use AWS Managed Microsoft AD multi-region replication.
Why it's wrong here
This increases cost and management overhead.
- ✓
Deploy the directory in a shared services VPC in the management account. Use AWS Transit Gateway to connect all VPCs and configure the directory's DNS as a forwarder via Amazon Route 53 Resolver.
Why this is correct
Transit Gateway provides scalable connectivity, and Route 53 Resolver can forward DNS to the directory.
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JA
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.