The answer is an overwhelmed ALB failing to handle the volume of concurrent connections from CloudFront’s edge locations. When optimizing CloudFront with ALB for global performance, the edge locations aggregate user traffic into fewer, high-bandwidth connections to the origin, which can spike the ALB’s concurrent connection count beyond its configured limits. This causes queuing, latency spikes, and connection timeouts for distant users, even though the ALB is healthy and its security group allows CloudFront IP ranges. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of origin scaling and connection management—a common trap is assuming latency is always a network or security group issue, when the real bottleneck is the ALB’s capacity to handle the burst of connections from CloudFront’s distributed nodes. Remember the memory tip: “CloudFront consolidates, ALB suffocates”—if users globally see high latency but the ALB is healthy, check its concurrent connection limits and scale it out.
SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 has deployed a global web application using AWS CloudFront with an Application Load Balancer (ALB) as the origin. The ALB is in a single AWS region. Users in different geographic regions report high latency, and some users are unable to access the application. The SysOps administrator verifies that the CloudFront distribution is configured correctly and that the ALB is healthy. The administrator also confirms that the ALB's security group allows traffic from the CloudFront IP ranges. What is the most likely cause of the issue?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The ALB is overwhelmed by the number of concurrent connections from CloudFront
Option B is correct because if the ALB is not configured to handle the volume of requests from CloudFront's edge locations, it can become overwhelmed, causing latency and errors. Option A is wrong because CloudFront caches content, reducing load on the origin. Option C is wrong because CloudFront uses HTTP/HTTPS, not TCP/UDP. Option D is wrong because while SSL/TLS adds overhead, it is not the primary cause of regional access issues.
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.
✓
The ALB is overwhelmed by the number of concurrent connections from CloudFront
Why this is correct
CloudFront aggregates requests from many edge locations, potentially overwhelming the ALB if not scaled.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
CloudFront is not caching content, causing all requests to go to the origin
Why it's wrong here
Caching reduces origin load; the issue is likely origin performance.
✗
The CloudFront distribution is using TCP instead of HTTP, causing higher latency
The SSL/TLS certificate on the ALB is not trusted by CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront trusts public certificates; this would cause a different error.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Networking and Content Delivery — This question tests Networking and Content Delivery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The ALB is overwhelmed by the number of concurrent connections from CloudFront — Option B is correct because if the ALB is not configured to handle the volume of requests from CloudFront's edge locations, it can become overwhelmed, causing latency and errors. Option A is wrong because CloudFront caches content, reducing load on the origin. Option C is wrong because CloudFront uses HTTP/HTTPS, not TCP/UDP. Option D is wrong because while SSL/TLS adds overhead, it is not the primary cause of regional access issues.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.