What action should the SysOps Administrator take to accomplish this?
Create a NAT instance and route traffic destined to Amazon S3 through it.
Create a VPN connection between the EC2 instance and Amazon S3.
Create an S3 VPC endpoint in the VPC where the EC2 instance resides.
Use AWS Direct Connect to maximize throughput and keep the traffic private.
Explanations:
A NAT instance is used for allowing instances in a private subnet to access the internet, but the traffic to Amazon S3 would still go through the internet, which violates the requirement for keeping the traffic private.
A VPN connection is typically used to connect on-premises networks to AWS, not for traffic between an EC2 instance and S3. S3 does not need a VPN for private communication within the AWS network.
An S3 VPC endpoint allows private communication between an EC2 instance in a VPC and Amazon S3, without using the internet. This ensures the traffic does not traverse the public internet.
AWS Direct Connect is a high-throughput, dedicated connection to AWS, typically used for on-premises networks. It is not necessary for communication between an EC2 instance and S3, and it is more complex than using a VPC endpoint.
To the best of my knowledge, the answer is:
Create an S3 VPC endpoint in the VPC where the EC2 instance resides.