SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
A company has an Application Load Balancer (ALB) that distributes traffic to EC2 instances. The company wants to enable path-based routing to send requests to different target groups. Which TWO resources must be created to achieve this?
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
✓
Target group for each backend service
(Target group for each backend service) and Option D (Listener rule with a path pattern condition) are correct. Path-based routing requires creating target groups for each backend service and a listener rule with a path pattern condition to direct requests to the appropriate target group. Option A is incorrect because subnets are needed for the ALB, but they are not specifically required for path-based routing. Option C is incorrect because a Network Load Balancer is not used; the ALB itself handles path-based routing. Option E is incorrect because a security group controls traffic but does not enable path-based routing.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Subnet for the ALB
Why it's wrong here
Subnets for the ALB define what IP addresses the load balancer uses in each Availability Zone and where the ALB nodes are launched. They are network infrastructure constructs that provide connectivity and high availability, but they do not examine URI paths or make any HTTP-aware routing decisions. Path-based routing is implemented at the application layer inside the ALB, not by the subnet configuration.
- ✓
Target group for each backend service
Why this is correct
In an Application Load Balancer, traffic is not forwarded directly to backend instances; it is forwarded to target groups. A target group logically groups a set of backend instances or IP addresses for one specific service, and each target group has its own health checks, stickiness policy, and routing metadata. Because each backend service is a distinct application, you need a separate target group per service so that a listener rule can route a specific URL path to the correct group of instances.
- ✗
Network Load Balancer (NLB)
Why it's wrong here
A Network Load Balancer operates at Layer 4 and routes traffic based on TCP/UDP protocols and ports, without inspecting the HTTP application payload. It cannot evaluate URL path patterns like `/api/*` or `/images/*`, so it is incapable of implementing path-based routing between multiple backend services. Listener rules with path-pattern conditions are a Layer 7 feature that only an Application Load Balancer or an ALB-compatible gateway can perform.
- ✓
Listener rule with a path pattern condition
Why this is correct
A listener rule defines the routing logic for the ALB by combining a condition (such as a path pattern or host header) with an action (such as forwarding to a target group). For path-based routing across backend services, you must configure listener rules that match distinct URL paths and forward each match to the correct target group. Without these rules, the ALB has no mechanism to decide which backend service should handle a given request path.
- ✗
Security group for the ALB
Why it's wrong here
Security groups act as stateful virtual firewalls for the ALB, controlling which source IPs, ports, and protocols can reach the load balancer. They operate at the network and transport layer and are completely unaware of HTTP paths, host headers, or application content. While a security group can restrict incoming access to the ALB, it cannot perform routing or forward requests to specific backend services based on URL paths.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SOA-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 SOA-C02 exam.