Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company has an Amazon VPC with public and private subnets. The private subnets host database instances that should not have direct internet access. However, the database instances need to download patches from an Amazon S3 bucket. The SysOps administrator needs to enable access to S3 from the private subnets without traversing the internet. Which solution should be used?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Create a NAT gateway in a public subnet and update the private route tables to point 0.0.0.0/0 to the NAT gateway.
This provides internet access via NAT, but traffic still traverses the internet, and it incurs NAT gateway costs. Does not meet the 'without traversing the internet' requirement.
B
Best answer
Create a VPC endpoint for S3 (Gateway type) and update the private route tables to add a route to the S3 prefix list.
A Gateway Endpoint enables private connectivity to S3 without using the internet. It is cost-effective and simple to configure.
C
Distractor review
Create a VPC endpoint for S3 (Interface type) and assign a security group to the endpoint.
While Interface Endpoints also work for S3, they are more expensive and typically used when you need PrivateLink functionality. Gateway Endpoints are the recommended and simpler option for S3.
D
Distractor review
Create an AWS Direct Connect connection and route traffic to S3 through the on-premises network.
This adds unnecessary complexity and cost. Direct Connect is for extending on-premises networks, not for VPC-to-S3 access within the same region.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
- Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
- Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
- The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
- Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
- Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
- Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Related practice questions
Related SOA-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company uses Amazon CloudFront to deliver content to a global audience. The origin is an Application Load Balancer in us-east-1. The SysOps administrator wants to reduce costs by minimizing the number of requests that reach the origin server. Which action should the administrator take?
Question 2
A company runs a batch processing application on Amazon EC2 that runs for 2 hours every night. The workload can tolerate interruptions. Which EC2 purchasing option provides the lowest cost for this use case?
Question 3
A SysOps administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an Amazon RDS DB instance and receive an alarm when CPU utilization exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used to create this alarm?
Question 4
A company runs a critical web application on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application uses session stickiness (sticky sessions) to maintain user sessions. The SysOps administrator notices that when instances are replaced during a scale-in or failure event, users lose their session data. The administrator needs to preserve session data across instance failures without losing stickiness benefits. What should the administrator do?
Question 5
A company runs a production web application on a single Amazon EC2 instance. The application experiences a predictable and steady workload 24/7. The SysOps administrator wants to minimize compute costs for this instance while ensuring it remains available during the expected workload. Which EC2 purchasing option should the administrator use?
Question 6
A company has a VPC with public and private subnets. The private subnets host application servers that need to make outbound HTTPS connections to the internet. The SysOps administrator must implement a solution that provides outbound internet connectivity while preventing inbound connections from the internet. Additionally, the solution must allow the company to control which domains the application servers can access. Which solution should the administrator implement?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a VPC endpoint for S3 (Gateway type) and update the private route tables to add a route to the S3 prefix list. — VPC Gateway Endpoints allow private subnet resources to access S3 and DynamoDB without a NAT gateway. It uses prefix lists and route table entries. Option B is correct. Option A would work but uses a NAT gateway, incurring cost and still traversing the internet (though through NAT, but traffic goes to internet). The requirement is no internet. Option C interface endpoint also works for S3 but is more expensive and not the simplest; gateway endpoint is recommended for S3. Option D adds unnecessary complexity and cost.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
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