AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03)Design High-Performing ArchitecturesHard
A financial institution is building a new high-frequency trading platform. The platform requires extremely low-latency network connectivity between its Amazon EC2 instances and its on-premises trading systems. Network jitter must be minimized, and bandwidth needs to be consistently high, up to 100 Gbps. A Solutions Architect needs to design the network architecture to meet these stringent requirements. Which networking solution should be implemented?
- AVPC Peering
- BAWS Direct Connect with a dedicated connection
- CAWS Transit Gateway with VPN attachments
- DAWS Site-to-Site VPN
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. AWS Direct Connect with a dedicated connection
AWS Direct Connect provides a dedicated network connection from your premises to AWS, bypassing the public internet. A dedicated connection directly to the AWS network offers consistently high bandwidth (up to 100 Gbps), extremely low latency, and reduced network jitter, which is critical for high-frequency trading platforms.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. VPC Peering connects two VPCs, not an on-premises network to AWS, and doesn't address the dedicated high-performance connectivity requirement for hybrid environments.
- C. AWS Transit Gateway is for connecting multiple VPCs and on-premises networks centrally, but using VPN attachments still relies on the public internet, which doesn't meet the low-latency/jitter requirements.
- D. AWS Site-to-Site VPN uses the public internet, which introduces variable latency and jitter, and typically has lower bandwidth limits, making it unsuitable for high-frequency trading.
AWS Direct Connect
A network service that provides a dedicated network connection from your premises to AWS, bypassing the public internet.
- Offers consistent network performance, lower latency, and reduced jitter.
- Available in various speeds, from 50 Mbps to 100 Gbps.
- Can be dedicated (single customer) or hosted (shared capacity).
- Ideal for hybrid cloud architectures, large data transfers, and real-time applications.
Memory trick: Connect to cloud, Direct's the proud, VPN's fine, but Direct's divine.