The answer is Amazon CloudFront with an SSL certificate. This is correct because S3 static website hosting does not natively support HTTPS with a custom domain; it only provides an HTTP endpoint based on the bucket name. CloudFront acts as a content delivery network that sits in front of the S3 bucket, allowing you to attach a custom SSL certificate from AWS Certificate Manager and associate your custom domain via an alternate domain name. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to secure a static site at the edge, often appearing as a trap where candidates mistakenly think S3 alone can handle HTTPS with a custom domain—it cannot. A common memory tip is to remember that S3 serves content, but CloudFront secures and accelerates it with HTTPS and custom domains. Think of it as "S3 for storage, CloudFront for security and speed."
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 new static website hosted on Amazon S3. The website must be served over HTTPS with a custom domain name. Which AWS service should be used to achieve this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon CloudFront with SSL certificate
Option B is correct because CloudFront can be configured with a custom SSL certificate and domain. Option A is wrong because S3 does not natively support HTTPS with custom domains. Option C is wrong because ELB is for dynamic content. Option D is wrong because Route 53 is DNS, not content delivery.
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.
✗
Amazon Route 53 with alias record
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 is a DNS service, it does not serve content or provide HTTPS.
✓
Amazon CloudFront with SSL certificate
Why this is correct
CloudFront can be configured with a custom SSL certificate and domain to serve HTTPS.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Amazon S3 static website hosting with bucket policy
Why it's wrong here
S3 static website hosting does not support HTTPS with custom domains; it only provides an HTTP endpoint.
✗
Elastic Load Balancer with SSL termination
Why it's wrong here
ELB is for dynamic content behind EC2, not for static S3 websites.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon CloudFront with SSL certificate — Option B is correct because CloudFront can be configured with a custom SSL certificate and domain. Option A is wrong because S3 does not natively support HTTPS with custom domains. Option C is wrong because ELB is for dynamic content. Option D is wrong because Route 53 is DNS, not content delivery.
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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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
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