CompTIA Network+ Practice Test

What does a subnet in a VPC require to interact with the internet?

1. A direct link to the cloud provider's data center

2. A public IP address assigned to every device

3. A VPC internet gateway

4. A load balancer for traffic distribution

The correct answer is: A VPC internet gateway

A subnet in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) requires a VPC internet gateway to facilitate communication with the internet. The internet gateway is a horizontally scaled, redundant, and highly available VPC component that allows resources within the VPC to connect to the internet and also allows the internet to initiate connections to resources allocated with public IP addresses. When the internet gateway is attached to the VPC, it enables instances in a public subnet to reach the internet for activities such as web traffic or downloading updates. Any instance that needs to communicate with the outside world will typically need to have a public IP address and proper routing configured to send traffic through the internet gateway. This makes the internet gateway essential for enabling internet access from the VPC subnets. While a public IP address is necessary for instances that need direct internet connectivity, the presence of a VPC internet gateway is what actually allows that communication to take place, serving as a point of access between the VPC and the internet.