AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate / Question #1393 of 1019

Question #1393

A company operates four business applications in separate VPCs within the ap-southeast-1 Region. These applications require communication between VPCs and must consistently transfer terabytes of data daily to a latency-sensitive application hosted in an on-premises data center. A solutions architect needs to design a network connectivity solution that maximizes cost-effectiveness. Which solution meets these requirements?

A

Configure four AWS Site-to-Site VPN connections from the data center to AWS, establishing one VPN connection for each VPC.

B

Deploy a third-party virtual router appliance in each VPC and create IPsec VPN tunnels between the data center and each appliance.

C

Set up four AWS Direct Connect connections from the data center to a Direct Connect gateway in ap-southeast-1, configuring each VPC to use a dedicated connection.

D

Establish a single AWS Direct Connect connection from the data center to AWS. Create a transit gateway, attach all VPCs to it, and connect the Direct Connect connection to the transit gateway.

Explanation

Answer D is correct because:
1. Direct Connect offers a dedicated, high-bandwidth connection ideal for latency-sensitive, high-volume data transfers (terabytes daily).
2. Transit Gateway simplifies inter-VPC communication by centralizing routing, eliminating the need for multiple VPNs or Direct Connect connections.
3. Cost-effectiveness: A single Direct Connect connection shared across all VPCs via Transit Gateway is cheaper than maintaining multiple connections (Options A, C) or third-party appliances (Option B).

Why other options are incorrect:
- A: Four VPNs incur higher costs, internet-based latency, and management overhead.
- B: Third-party appliances add complexity, cost, and rely on VPNs (higher latency).
- C: Four Direct Connect connections are prohibitively expensive and unnecessary.

Key Points:
- Use Transit Gateway for scalable inter-VPC connectivity.
- Direct Connect is optimal for large, consistent data transfers with low latency.
- Consolidate connections to reduce costs.

Answer

The correct answer is: D