The answer is AWS Transit Gateway. This service is the correct choice because it acts as a central hub using a star topology, allowing you to connect multiple VPCs and on-premises networks through a single gateway, which directly avoids the complexity and scaling limitations of a full mesh of VPC peering connections. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of network architecture simplification and centralized routing management; a common trap is confusing Transit Gateway with VPC peering or a NAT gateway, but remember that Transit Gateway is the only service designed specifically to consolidate many VPC connections into one hub. For a quick memory tip, think of Transit Gateway as a “network router in the cloud” that replaces dozens of peering links with a single attachment point, making it the go-to solution for multi-VPC connectivity within a Region.
SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. 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 has multiple VPCs in the same AWS Region that need to communicate with each other. The SysOps administrator wants to avoid the complexity of a full mesh of VPC peering connections. Which AWS service should the administrator use to connect all VPCs with a central hub?
Why wrong: Direct Connect is a dedicated connection between on-premises and AWS, not a hub for connecting multiple VPCs within a Region.
B
AWS Transit Gateway
Correct. Transit Gateway provides a scalable hub-and-spoke model, allowing you to attach many VPCs and manage routing centrally.
C
VPC peering
Why wrong: VPC peering creates direct point-to-point connections, requiring a full mesh of connections for multiple VPCs, which becomes complex.
D
AWS PrivateLink
Why wrong: PrivateLink allows you to access services privately within a VPC, but it does not provide inter-VPC connectivity between multiple customer VPCs.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Transit Gateway
AWS Transit Gateway acts as a central hub that allows you to connect multiple VPCs and on-premises networks through a single gateway, eliminating the need for a full mesh of VPC peering connections. It uses a star topology where each VPC attaches to the Transit Gateway, and routing is managed via route tables, simplifying network management and scaling.
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.
✗
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is a dedicated connection between on-premises and AWS, not a hub for connecting multiple VPCs within a Region.
✓
AWS Transit Gateway
Why this is correct
Correct. Transit Gateway provides a scalable hub-and-spoke model, allowing you to attach many VPCs and manage routing centrally.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
VPC peering
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering creates direct point-to-point connections, requiring a full mesh of connections for multiple VPCs, which becomes complex.
✗
AWS PrivateLink
Why it's wrong here
PrivateLink allows you to access services privately within a VPC, but it does not provide inter-VPC connectivity between multiple customer VPCs.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse VPC peering (which is point-to-point) with a hub-and-spoke solution, or mistakenly think AWS PrivateLink can route general traffic between VPCs, when it is actually designed for service-specific endpoints.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Transit Gateway uses a centralized routing table that can propagate routes from attached VPCs and VPN connections, supporting up to 5,000 VPC attachments per gateway. It leverages the AWS global network for high-bandwidth, low-latency traffic, and supports multicast and inter-Region peering for advanced topologies. In a real-world scenario, a company with dozens of VPCs can attach each to a single Transit Gateway and use route tables to isolate environments (e.g., dev, prod) while still allowing selective communication.
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.
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.
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: AWS Transit Gateway — AWS Transit Gateway acts as a central hub that allows you to connect multiple VPCs and on-premises networks through a single gateway, eliminating the need for a full mesh of VPC peering connections. It uses a star topology where each VPC attaches to the Transit Gateway, and routing is managed via route tables, simplifying network management and scaling.
What should I do if I get this SOA-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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Question Discussion
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