SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
Network Topology
A company uses AWS Organizations and has shared a subnet from the VPC shown in the exhibit using AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM). A workload account launches an EC2 instance in the shared subnet. The instance needs to communicate with an RDS database in a different private subnet within the same VPC. What additional configuration is required?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume that because the subnet is shared across accounts, the resources are in different VPCs, leading them to incorrectly select VPC peering or Transit Gateway options, when in fact the resources are in the same VPC and only need proper security group configuration.
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 workload account must configure security groups for the EC2 instance to allow traffic to the RDS database's security group.
When an EC2 instance is launched into a shared subnet via AWS RAM, the workload account can manage its own security groups, but the underlying VPC and its route tables remain under the management of the VPC owner. Since the instance and the RDS database are in the same VPC, no inter-VPC connectivity (like VPC peering or Transit Gateway) is needed. The only missing piece is that the workload account must configure its EC2 instance's security group to allow outbound traffic to the RDS database's security group, and the RDS database's security group must allow inbound traffic from the EC2 instance's security group, both of which are standard security group rules within the same VPC.
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 workload account must create a route table entry in the shared VPC to allow communication.
Why it's wrong here
The workload account cannot modify route tables in the shared VPC.
- ✓
The workload account must configure security groups for the EC2 instance to allow traffic to the RDS database's security group.
Why this is correct
Security groups are managed by the account that owns the resource.
- ✗
Establish a VPC peering connection between the workload account's VPC and the shared VPC.
Why it's wrong here
The workload account already has access to the shared VPC via the shared subnet.
- ✗
Attach an AWS Transit Gateway to both VPCs to enable communication.
Why it's wrong here
Transit gateway is unnecessary as both resources are in the same VPC.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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