Explanation: Amazon Athena is a serverless, interactive analytics service that allows users to run SQL queries on data stored in Amazon S3. It is ideal for occasional queries on large datasets, as it does not require any server provisioning, configuration, or management. Users only pay for the queries they run, based on the amount of data scanned. Amazon Athena supports various data formats, such as CSV, JSON, Parquet, ORC, and Avro, and integrates with AWS Glue Data Catalog to create and manage schemas. Amazon Athena also supports querying data from other sources, such as onpremises or other cloud systems, using data connectors1.
Amazon Redshift is a fully managed data warehouse service that allows users to run complex analytical queries on petabyte-scale data. However, it requires users to provision and maintain clusters of nodes, and pay for the storage and compute capacity they use. Amazon Redshift is more suitable for frequent and consistent queries on structured or semi-structured data2.
Amazon Kinesis is a platform for streaming data on AWS, enabling users to collect, process, and analyze real-time data. It is not designed for querying data stored in Amazon S3. Amazon Kinesis consists of four services: Kinesis Data Streams, Kinesis Data Firehose, Kinesis Data Analytics, and Kinesis Video Streams3.
Amazon RDS is a relational database service that provides six database engines: Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database, and SQL Server. It simplifies database administration tasks such as backup, patching, scaling, and replication. However, it is not optimized for querying data stored in Amazon S3. Amazon RDS is more suitable for transactional workloads that require high performance and availability4.

Explanation: Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) is a fully managed, scalable, and serverless NFS (Network File System) file system specifically designed for use with AWS services and on-premises resources. It enables companies to create and configure file systems that can be accessed from multiple Amazon EC2 instances simultaneously, making it ideal for use cases that require shared file storage for AWS compute services.
Why Amazon EFS Fits the Requirements:

• Managed Service: Amazon EFS is a fully managed file storage service that simplifies the process of setting up and managing NFS file systems.
• Scalability and Elasticity: EFS automatically scales to accommodate the storage needs of applications, without the need to provision or manage storage capacity.
• NFS Compatibility: Amazon EFS natively supports the NFSv4 protocol, making it compatible with a wide range of applications and workloads that require NFS access.
• Integration with AWS Compute Services: EFS integrates seamlessly with Amazon EC2 and other AWS services, providing a shared file storage solution across multiple instances and services within the AWS cloud environment.

• A. Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS): While EBS provides block-level storage that can be attached to individual EC2 instances, it is not a file system, nor does it provide managed NFS file storage capabilities. EBS is designed for single instance access rather than shared file access across multiple instances.
• B. AWS Storage Gateway Tape Gateway: Tape Gateway is designed for archival purposes and allows companies to store virtual tape backups in Amazon S3 or Glacier. It does not support NFS file storage and is not intended for regular compute access.
• C. Amazon S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval: Amazon S3 Glacier is optimized for data archiving and long-term storage of infrequently accessed data, but it does not provide NFS file system capabilities, nor is it suitable for high-performance access needs associated with compute services.

Explanation: A Network ACL (Access Control List) is a stateless firewall that controls inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level within a VPC. It provides an additional layer of security to the VPC by allowing or denying traffic to and from a subnet based on defined rules.
A. Security group: Incorrect, as security groups act as a firewall at the instance level, not the subnet level.
C. Elastic network interface: Incorrect, as it is a virtual network interface that you can attach to an instance, not a firewall feature.
D. AWS WAF: Incorrect, as it is a web application firewall that protects web applications from common exploits, not for subnet-level protection.

Explanation: AWS Budgets is a service that enables you to plan your service usage, service costs, and instance reservations. You can use AWS Budgets to create custom budgets that alert you when your costs or usage exceed (or are forecasted to exceed) your budgeted amount. You can also use AWS Budgets to monitor how close your usage and costs are to meeting your reservation purchases1.

Explanation:
The AWS Well-Architected Framework is a set of best practices and guidelines for designing and operating workloads on AWS. It helps customers achieve operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability. The framework is based on six pillars, each with its own design principles, best practices, and questions. Customers can use the framework to assess their current state, identify gaps, and implement improvements12.

• AWS Support is a service that provides technical assistance, guidance, and resources for AWS customers. It offers different plans with varying levels of access to AWS experts, response times, and features3. AWS Support does not provide a comprehensive framework for operational support.
• AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (AWS CAF) is a guidance tool that helps customers plan and execute their cloud migration journey. It provides a set of perspectives, capabilities, and best practices to align the business and technical aspects of cloud adoption4. AWS CAF does not focus on operational support for existing workloads on AWS.
• AWS Managed Services (AMS) is a service that operates AWS infrastructure on behalf of customers. It provides a secure and compliant environment, automates common activities, and applies best practices for provisioning, patching, backup, recovery, and monitoring5. AMS does not provide a framework for customers to operate their own workloads on AWS.

Explanation: AWS Artifact is a service provided by AWS that offers on-demand access to AWS compliance reports, including the Payment Card Industry (PCI) reports. It is the primary tool for retrieving compliance reports such as Service Organization Control (SOC) reports, ISO certifications, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) reports.
To obtain these reports:
The company should log into the AWS Management Console and navigate to AWS Artifact.
From there, they can select and download the necessary compliance reports. Why other options are not suitable:
A. Contact AWS Support: AWS Support is not needed to obtain these reports; they are readily available through AWS Artifact.
C. Download reports from AWS Security Hub: AWS Security Hub is a service that provides a comprehensive view of security alerts and compliance status, but it does not host or provide compliance reports like PCI DSS.
D. Contact an AWS technical account manager (TAM): While a TAM may assist in various AWS-related queries, they are not required to obtain PCI reports. AWS Artifact is designed for this purpose.

Explanation: Security groups act as a firewall for associated Amazon EC2 instances, controlling both inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level. You can use security groups to set rules that allow or deny traffic to or from your instances. You can modify the rules for a security group at any time; the new rules are automatically applied to all instances that are associated with the security group.

Explanation: A VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) in AWS is a logically isolated network that you define in the AWS Cloud. Within a VPC, you can create subnets, route tables, network gateways, and more.
D. Internet Gateway: An internet gateway is a component that allows communication between resources in a VPC and the internet.
E. Subnet: A subnet is a range of IP addresses in your VPC. Subnets can be public or private and are essential for organizing resources within a VPC.
Why other options are not suitable:
A. Amazon API Gateway: Used for creating and managing APIs, not a direct component of a VPC.
B. Amazon S3 buckets and objects: Amazon S3 is a storage service; its resources are globally accessible and not confined to a VPC.
C. AWS Storage Gateway: A hybrid cloud storage service, not a core component of a VPC.

Explanation: AWS Artifact is a service that provides on-demand access to security and compliance reports from AWS and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) who sell their products on AWS Marketplace. You can use AWS Artifact to download auditor-issued reports, certifications, accreditations, and other third-party attestations of AWS compliance with various standards and regulations, such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FedRAMP, GDPR, and more1234. You can also use AWS Artifact to review, accept, and manage your agreements with AWS and apply them to current and future accounts within your organization2.

Explanation: Establishing an AWS Direct Connect connection between the VPC and the company’s on-premises network is the action that the company should take to meet the requirement of having a dedicated connection between the VPC and the company’s onpremises network. AWS Direct Connect is a service that lets you establish a dedicated network connection between your network and one of the AWS Direct Connect locations. Using AWS Direct Connect, you can create a private connection between AWS and your datacenter, office, or colocation environment, which can reduce your network costs, increase bandwidth throughput, and provide a more consistent network experience than internet-based connections. Establishing a VPN connection between the VPC and the company’s on-premises network is an action that the company can take to create a secure and encrypted connection between the VPC and the company’s on-premises network, but it is not a dedicated connection, as it uses the public internet as the transport mechanism. Attaching an internet gateway to the VPC and using the AWS public endpoints for connectivity is an action that the company can take to enable communication between the VPC and the internet, but it is not a dedicated connection, as it also uses the public internet as the transport mechanism. Configuring Amazon Connect to provide connectivity between the VPC and the company’s on-premises network is not an action that the company can take, because Amazon Connect is a service that lets you set up and manage a contact center in the cloud, but it does not provide network connectivity between the VPC and the company’s on-premises network.

Explanation: AWS Artifact is your go-to, central resource for compliance-related information that matters to you. It provides on-demand access to AWS’ security and compliance reports and select online agreements. Reports available in AWS Artifact include our Service Organization Control (SOC) reports, Payment Card Industry (PCI) reports, and certifications from accreditation bodies across geographies and compliance verticals that validate the implementation and operating effectiveness of AWS security controls. Agreements available in AWS Artifact include the Business Associate Addendum (BAA) and the Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA). You can use AWS Artifact to download the applicable report for AWS security controls and provide it to the auditor.

Explanation: AWS Organizations is a service that helps users centrally manage and govern multiple AWS accounts. With AWS Organizations, a company can consolidate billing and receive a single bill for all AWS accounts under an organization, making it easier for the finance team to track costs.