The answer is to create a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies the ec2:RunInstances action in non-approved regions. This is the most effective enforcement because SCPs act as a centralized permission guardrail at the AWS Organizations level, applying a blanket deny across all member accounts without requiring per-account IAM policy changes. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of SCPs as a preventative control for multi-account governance, often contrasted with AWS Config, which is only detective. A common trap is choosing IAM policies or VPC endpoints, but remember that SCPs are the only tool that can restrict EC2 region launch across an entire organization without manual overhead. Memory tip: SCPs are the "bouncer at the door" for regions—they deny before any IAM policy is even evaluated.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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 runs a global application on AWS spanning multiple regions. They need to enforce that IAM users in specific accounts can only launch EC2 instances in approved regions. The company uses AWS Organizations. What is the most effective way to enforce this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies EC2:RunInstances in non-approved regions.
Option D is correct because SCPs can deny EC2 actions in non-approved regions across all accounts. Option A is wrong because IAM policies in each account require manual management. Option B is wrong because AWS Config only detects non-compliance. Option C is wrong because VPC endpoints do not restrict EC2 launch.
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.
✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect EC2 instances in non-approved regions and trigger automatic termination.
Why it's wrong here
Reactive; does not prevent launch.
✗
Create IAM policies in each account that deny EC2 actions outside approved regions.
Why it's wrong here
Requires maintenance in each account.
✗
Use VPC endpoints to restrict API calls to approved regions.
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoints do not control regional access.
✓
Create a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies EC2:RunInstances in non-approved regions.
Why this is correct
SCPs are applied at the OU or account level and prevent actions.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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 SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies EC2:RunInstances in non-approved regions. — Option D is correct because SCPs can deny EC2 actions in non-approved regions across all accounts. Option A is wrong because IAM policies in each account require manual management. Option B is wrong because AWS Config only detects non-compliance. Option C is wrong because VPC endpoints do not restrict EC2 launch.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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