Question 558 of 1,660
SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company runs a production AWS Lambda function that processes orders. Recently, the function has been timing out occasionally. The function uses a VPC with a single private subnet and has a timeout of 30 seconds. What is the MOST likely cause of the timeout?
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
✓
The function does not have a NAT gateway or VPC endpoints to access external resources.
The most likely cause of the timeout is that the Lambda function is attached to a VPC but does not have a NAT gateway or VPC endpoints to access external resources (Option D). When a Lambda function is configured to run in a VPC, it loses default internet access. To access external services (such as an external database or API), the function needs a NAT gateway in a public subnet or VPC endpoints for the specific services. Without this, the function will timeout when trying to reach external resources. Option A is incorrect because cold starts cause latency but not consistent timeouts. Option B is incorrect because hitting the concurrent execution limit would cause throttling (HTTP 429 or 500 errors), not timeouts. Option C is incorrect because attaching to a public subnet would not help; Lambda functions cannot have public IPs in a VPC by default, and a public subnet does not provide internet access without an internet gateway and route table updates.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The function is experiencing cold starts due to high concurrency.
Why it's wrong here
Cold starts add latency but not timeouts beyond the configured duration.
- ✗
The function is hitting the maximum concurrent execution limit.
Why it's wrong here
Concurrency limit causes throttling, not timeouts.
- ✗
The function needs to be attached to a public subnet.
Why it's wrong here
Lambda should not be placed in public subnets; use private subnets with NAT.
- ✓
The function does not have a NAT gateway or VPC endpoints to access external resources.
Why this is correct
Lambda in a VPC needs a route to the internet for external calls, otherwise requests hang.
Visual reference
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 |
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.