- A
Amazon Route 53
Why wrong: Route 53 is DNS, not service discovery.
- B
Amazon API Gateway
API Gateway creates and manages APIs.
- C
Application Load Balancer
ALB can route traffic to microservices.
- D
Amazon VPC Lattice
Why wrong: VPC Lattice is for service connectivity, not API management.
- E
AWS Cloud Map
Cloud Map provides service discovery for microservices.
Question 1,248 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 new microservices architecture that requires service discovery and API management. Which THREE services can be used together to achieve this? (Choose THREE.)
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
✓
Amazon API Gateway
Amazon API Gateway (B) is correct because it provides a fully managed API management layer that handles API creation, publishing, monitoring, and security, enabling microservices to expose RESTful or WebSocket APIs. Application Load Balancer (C) is correct as it can distribute incoming traffic across multiple microservice targets (e.g., ECS tasks, Lambda functions) and supports path-based routing, which is essential for service discovery and traffic management. AWS Cloud Map (E) is correct because it offers a service registry that allows microservices to dynamically discover each other by name, using DNS or HTTP API calls, and integrates with health checks to ensure only healthy endpoints are returned.
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.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 is DNS, not service discovery.
- ✓
Amazon API Gateway
Why this is correct
API Gateway creates and manages APIs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Application Load Balancer
Why this is correct
ALB can route traffic to microservices.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon VPC Lattice
Why it's wrong here
VPC Lattice is for service connectivity, not API management.
- ✓
AWS Cloud Map
Why this is correct
Cloud Map provides service discovery for microservices.
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 confuse Amazon Route 53's DNS-based service discovery with the full service registry and API management capabilities required, or they mistakenly think VPC Lattice can replace both API Gateway and Cloud Map, when in fact VPC Lattice focuses on network-layer connectivity and does not provide API management features like authentication, throttling, or request transformation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, AWS Cloud Map uses a combination of DNS (SRV records for service instances) and HTTP API calls to enable service discovery, with automatic health check integration to remove unhealthy instances from the registry. Application Load Balancer supports path-based and host-based routing rules that can direct traffic to different target groups, each representing a microservice, and can offload TLS termination. API Gateway can act as a front door for all microservices, providing request validation, rate limiting, and integration with AWS WAF for security, while also supporting canary releases and stage variables for deployment management.
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.
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 |
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: Amazon API Gateway — Amazon API Gateway (B) is correct because it provides a fully managed API management layer that handles API creation, publishing, monitoring, and security, enabling microservices to expose RESTful or WebSocket APIs. Application Load Balancer (C) is correct as it can distribute incoming traffic across multiple microservice targets (e.g., ECS tasks, Lambda functions) and supports path-based routing, which is essential for service discovery and traffic management. AWS Cloud Map (E) is correct because it offers a service registry that allows microservices to dynamically discover each other by name, using DNS or HTTP API calls, and integrates with health checks to ensure only healthy endpoints are returned.
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
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.
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