- A
Use AWS PrivateLink to connect each VPC to the security VPC via interface endpoints.
Why wrong: PrivateLink is for services, not for routing all traffic.
- B
Set up AWS Direct Connect gateway and route all traffic through the security account.
Why wrong: Direct Connect is for on-premises, not inter-VPC.
- C
Create VPC peering connections between each VPC and the security VPC, then configure route tables to route traffic through the firewall.
Why wrong: Complex and scalable poorly.
- D
Use AWS Transit Gateway with a central appliance VPC, and configure route tables to send traffic to the firewall for inspection.
Correct: Centrally managed and scales well.
Question 691 of 1,746
Centralized Network Inspection Across VPCs
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 is designing a cross-account network architecture. The security team requires that all traffic between VPCs in different accounts must be inspected by a centralized firewall appliance in the security account. The network team wants to minimize complexity and avoid route table manipulation. Which solution meets these requirements?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
✓
Use AWS Transit Gateway with a central appliance VPC, and configure route tables to send traffic to the firewall for inspection.
Option D is correct because AWS Transit Gateway (TGW) allows you to centralize network traffic through a security appliance VPC. By attaching all VPCs to a single TGW and configuring route tables to route inter-VPC traffic to the firewall appliance in the security VPC, you meet the inspection requirement without manual route table manipulation in each spoke VPC. This design minimizes complexity by using a hub-and-spoke topology with centralized routing control.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 PrivateLink to connect each VPC to the security VPC via interface endpoints.
Why it's wrong here
PrivateLink is for services, not for routing all traffic.
- ✗
Set up AWS Direct Connect gateway and route all traffic through the security account.
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is for on-premises, not inter-VPC.
- ✗
Create VPC peering connections between each VPC and the security VPC, then configure route tables to route traffic through the firewall.
Why it's wrong here
Complex and scalable poorly.
- ✓
Use AWS Transit Gateway with a central appliance VPC, and configure route tables to send traffic to the firewall for inspection.
Why this is correct
Correct: Centrally managed and scales well.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose VPC peering (Option C) because it is familiar, but they overlook the requirement to avoid route table manipulation and the lack of transitive routing, which makes peering unsuitable for centralized inspection across multiple accounts.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Transit Gateway supports transitive routing across attachments, allowing you to create a central inspection VPC where a firewall appliance (e.g., Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet) is deployed. By using TGW route tables, you can force all inter-VPC traffic to be sent to the appliance VPC via a static route pointing to the firewall's elastic network interface (ENI), enabling stateful inspection. This architecture scales to hundreds of VPCs and accounts using AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) for shared TGW attachments.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Transit Gateway with a central appliance VPC, and configure route tables to send traffic to the firewall for inspection. — Option D is correct because AWS Transit Gateway (TGW) allows you to centralize network traffic through a security appliance VPC. By attaching all VPCs to a single TGW and configuring route tables to route inter-VPC traffic to the firewall appliance in the security VPC, you meet the inspection requirement without manual route table manipulation in each spoke VPC. This design minimizes complexity by using a hub-and-spoke topology with centralized routing control.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on SAP-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A solutions architect needs to design a network architecture for a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Transit Gateway. The company requires that all traffic between VPCs be inspected by a central security appliance. What is the MOST efficient way to achieve this?
easy- A.Use AWS Direct Connect to connect all VPCs to a central on-premises firewall.
- B.Use a Network Load Balancer in each VPC to forward traffic to a firewall instance.
- ✓ C.Attach all VPCs to a Transit Gateway and route traffic through a central inspection VPC.
- D.Create VPC peering connections between all VPCs and route traffic through a security VPC.
Why C: Option C is correct because AWS Transit Gateway enables a hub-and-spoke architecture where all VPCs attach to a central Transit Gateway, and a dedicated inspection VPC (with the security appliance) acts as the central inspection point. By configuring route tables in the Transit Gateway to route all inter-VPC traffic through the inspection VPC, you achieve mandatory traffic inspection without complex peering or performance bottlenecks.
Variation 2. A company is designing a network architecture for a multi-account AWS environment. They need to establish a central inspection VPC through which all traffic between VPCs in different accounts must pass. Which AWS service should be used to route traffic between VPCs through the inspection VPC?
easy- A.AWS Direct Connect gateway
- B.VPC peering with full mesh connectivity
- C.Elastic Load Balancer
- ✓ D.AWS Transit Gateway
Why D: AWS Transit Gateway (D) is the correct service because it acts as a central hub that can route traffic between multiple VPCs across different accounts, and it supports route tables that can force all inter-VPC traffic through a dedicated inspection VPC (e.g., using a blackhole route or a network appliance). This enables transitive routing without requiring full mesh peering, and it integrates with AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) for cross-account sharing.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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