An organization runs two firewall appliances in a centralized networking account. Each firewall runs on a manually configured, highly available EC2 instance. A Transit Gateway connects that VPC to member account VPCs. Each firewall uses a static private IP used by member-account route tables to route internet-bound traffic. A misconfigured script previously terminated both firewall instances. When rebuilding, the company now has a startup script to configure the firewall software. The organization needs a more modern, horizontally scalable deployment while continuing to use the vendor firewall (the vendor confirms compatibility with AWS services). Which combination of actions provides the most cost-effective, scalable solution? (Choose three.)
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Correct answer: Deploy a Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) in the centralized networking account and configure an endpoint service that uses AWS PrivateLink., Create an Auto Scaling group and a Launch Template that uses the new startup script as user data to configure the firewall appliances. Create a target group that uses the instance target type., Create VPC endpoints in the centralized networking account and update the route tables in each member account to point to those endpoints..
Why this is the answer
The Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) is designed for deploying, scaling, and managing third-party virtual appliances like firewalls, making it ideal for this use case. It operates at Layer 3 and Layer 4, preserving the source and destination IP addresses, which is crucial for firewall inspection. AWS PrivateLink with an endpoint service allows member accounts to securely access the GWLB in the centralized account without traversing the public internet. An Auto Scaling group with a Launch Template ensures horizontal scalability and automated recovery for the firewall instances, using the startup script for configuration. The target group should use the instance target type to register the EC2 firewall instances. VPC endpoints in the centralized account, pointed to by member account route tables, direct traffic through the GWLB for inspection. Network Load Balancer (NLB) is not suitable as it operates at Layer 4 and does not preserve IP addresses in the same way as GWLB, which is essential for transparent network appliance insertion. AWS Launch Wizard is for deploying applications, not for configuring Auto Scaling groups directly with user data for custom firewall deployments. Creating VPC endpoints in each member account would be less efficient and scalable than a centralized approach.
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