AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Practice Exam

For data transfer between two Amazon EC2 instances in different VPCs with a peering connection, what charge applies?

1. $0.01 per GB

2. $0.00 per GB in each direction

3. $0.10 per GB

4. Flat rate of $1.00 per month

The correct answer is: $0.00 per GB in each direction

When transferring data between two Amazon EC2 instances located in different Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) connected via a VPC peering connection, there are no data transfer charges in either direction. This means that the correct answer reflects the fact that AWS does not impose a cost for data transfer over a peering connection while it is set up between the two VPCs. VPC peering enables instances in different VPCs to communicate as if they are within the same network, making data transfer seamless and free of charge. This can greatly benefit organizations that need to maintain efficient connections across multiple environments without incurring additional operational costs. The absence of a charge for both ingress and egress traffic between these instances encourages more integrated architectures within AWS. Other options suggest various costs which do not reflect AWS's pricing model for VPC peering. In contrast, the actual data transfer between peered VPCs is treated as part of the single network, rationalizing the lack of a fee.