- A
Place all services in a single VPC with security groups to control traffic.
Why wrong: Security groups are stateful and could be misconfigured, allowing direct database access.
- B
Use a transit VPC with VPN connections to each service's VPC.
Why wrong: This still allows potential direct communication between service VPCs if not carefully routed.
- C
Create a separate VPC for each service, with VPC peering only between the API gateway and each service VPC.
This ensures each service's database is isolated and only accessible via the API.
- D
Use a single VPC with public and private subnets; place databases in private subnets and services in public subnets.
Why wrong: Routing can still allow direct communication between services and databases.
Question 1,209 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. 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 microservices architecture on AWS. Each service needs its own DynamoDB table, and services must be fully isolated. Which networking design ensures that services can only communicate through APIs and not directly to each other's databases?
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
✓
Create a separate VPC for each service, with VPC peering only between the API gateway and each service VPC.
Option C is correct because creating a separate VPC for each service enforces full network isolation, and using VPC peering only between the API Gateway and each service VPC ensures that services can only communicate through APIs. This design prevents any direct network-level access between service databases, as there is no peering or routing between the service VPCs themselves, aligning with the microservices principle of strict isolation.
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.
- ✗
Place all services in a single VPC with security groups to control traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Security groups are stateful and could be misconfigured, allowing direct database access.
- ✗
Use a transit VPC with VPN connections to each service's VPC.
Why it's wrong here
This still allows potential direct communication between service VPCs if not carefully routed.
- ✓
Create a separate VPC for each service, with VPC peering only between the API gateway and each service VPC.
Why this is correct
This ensures each service's database is isolated and only accessible via the API.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a single VPC with public and private subnets; place databases in private subnets and services in public subnets.
Why it's wrong here
Routing can still allow direct communication between services and databases.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a single VPC with security groups or subnets is sufficient for isolation, but they overlook that network-level isolation requires separate VPCs to prevent any direct routing between services, which is a key nuance in the SAP-C02 exam for microservices architectures.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC peering is a non-transitive, one-to-one networking connection that does not support transitive routing, meaning peered VPCs cannot route traffic through each other to reach other VPCs. This property is critical for enforcing isolation: by peering only the API Gateway VPC with each service VPC, no direct path exists between service VPCs, so services must communicate via the API Gateway. In a real-world scenario, this design also simplifies security auditing because network ACLs and route tables can be strictly controlled per VPC, and any attempt to bypass the API would require explicit peering or VPN connections.
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 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.
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 for New Solutions — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a separate VPC for each service, with VPC peering only between the API gateway and each service VPC. — Option C is correct because creating a separate VPC for each service enforces full network isolation, and using VPC peering only between the API Gateway and each service VPC ensures that services can only communicate through APIs. This design prevents any direct network-level access between service databases, as there is no peering or routing between the service VPCs themselves, aligning with the microservices principle of strict isolation.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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