AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
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A company is planning to migrate a TCP-based application into the company's VPC. The application is publicly accessible on a nonstandard TCP port through a hardware appliance in the company's data center. This public endpoint can process up to 3 million requests per second with low latency. The company requires the same level of performance for the new public endpoint in AWS.
What should a solutions architect recommend to meet this requirement?
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UAnonymous
A
Deploy a Network Load Balancer (NLB). Configure the NLB to be publicly accessible over the TCP port that the application requires.
B
Deploy an Application Load Balancer (ALB). Configure the ALB to be publicly accessible over the TCP port that the application requires.
C
Deploy an Amazon CloudFront distribution that listens on the TCP port that the application requires. Use an Application Load Balancer as the origin.
D
Deploy an Amazon API Gateway API that is configured with the TCP port that the application requires. Configure AWS Lambda functions with provisioned concurrency to process the requests.
Explanation:
Explanation
Correct Answer: A
Why Network Load Balancer (NLB) is the right choice:
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TCP Protocol Support: NLB operates at Layer 4 (transport layer) and is specifically designed to handle TCP, UDP, and TLS traffic. This makes it ideal for TCP-based applications.
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High Performance Requirements: The question states the application needs to handle 3 million requests per second with low latency. NLB is designed for extreme performance:
- Can handle millions of requests per second
- Provides ultra-low latencies
- Uses a single static IP address per Availability Zone
- Preserves source IP addresses
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Non-Standard TCP Port: NLB can be configured to listen on any TCP port, including non-standard ports, which matches the requirement.
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Public Accessibility: NLB can be deployed as an internet-facing load balancer, making it publicly accessible.
Why other options are incorrect:
B. Application Load Balancer (ALB):
- ALB operates at Layer 7 (application layer) and is optimized for HTTP/HTTPS traffic
- While ALB can technically handle TCP traffic, it's not optimized for high-performance TCP workloads
- ALB has lower performance ceilings compared to NLB for TCP traffic
C. Amazon CloudFront with ALB origin:
- CloudFront is a CDN service optimized for HTTP/HTTPS content delivery
- It doesn't support arbitrary TCP ports
- CloudFront is not designed for TCP-based applications
- The combination adds unnecessary complexity for a TCP workload
D. API Gateway with Lambda:
- API Gateway is designed for REST APIs and WebSocket connections
- It doesn't support arbitrary TCP ports
- Lambda with provisioned concurrency is for serverless HTTP workloads, not TCP applications
- This architecture would require significant re-architecture of the TCP application
Key AWS Service Characteristics:
- NLB: Layer 4, TCP/UDP/TLS, high performance, static IPs, preserves source IP
- ALB: Layer 7, HTTP/HTTPS, content-based routing, WebSocket support
- CloudFront: Global CDN, HTTP/HTTPS, edge locations, caching
- API Gateway: REST/WebSocket APIs, HTTP endpoints, serverless integration
For migrating a high-performance TCP application with specific port requirements, NLB provides the most direct and performant solution.
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