Ann wants to add an extra layer of security to inspect packet contents as they move between her data center and the private cloud. What should she install?

• A. IDS/IPS
• B. Firewall
• C. VPN Gateway
• D. Load Balancer

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is enforcing security and inspecting traffic at the boundary where networks meet. A firewall placed between the data center and the private cloud can enforce access rules and perform deep packet inspection to examine the contents of packets. This lets you block unwanted traffic and detect or stop threats based on the actual data inside packets, which is exactly what you want when securing traffic as it moves between networks.

IDS/IPS are great for detecting threats by inspecting packet contents, but they typically operate as a detection or inline blocking tool under a broader security stack rather than a single boundary enforcement device. A VPN gateway focuses on creating secure tunnels rather than inspecting and enforcing traffic policies. A load balancer distributes traffic to maintain availability and performance, not to inspect and filter traffic for security purposes. So the firewall is the best fit for adding that extra layer of content inspection at the network boundary.