Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company runs a mix of production and non-production Amazon EC2 instances. The finance team uses AWS Budgets to monitor monthly spending. For the development accounts, the team wants to automatically stop all running EC2 instances when the account's monthly spending reaches 90% of the budgeted amount. The team wants a solution that does not require custom scripting or additional infrastructure. Which AWS Budgets feature should the team configure to meet this requirement?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Create a budget alert that sends an email notification to the operations team when spending reaches 90% of the budget.
A budget alert only sends notifications; it does not automatically stop instances. The requirement specifically asks for an automated response, not a manual one.
B
Distractor review
Configure a budget action that applies an IAM policy to deny the ec2:StopInstances permission for all users.
Applying an IAM policy that denies the stop permission would prevent anyone from stopping instances, which is the opposite of the desired outcome. Additionally, this action does not actually stop running instances; it only changes permissions.
C
Best answer
Configure a budget action that runs an AWS Systems Manager automation document to stop the EC2 instances.
AWS Budgets actions can trigger an AWS Systems Manager automation document, which can be set to stop EC2 instances. This provides a native, automated solution without requiring custom code or additional services.
D
Distractor review
Create a budget alert that publishes a message to an Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) topic, and subscribe an AWS Lambda function to stop the instances.
Although this approach could technically work, it requires custom scripting (Lambda function) and additional configuration. The requirement specifies a solution that does not require custom scripting or additional infrastructure. The native budget action using Systems Manager automation is simpler and meets the requirement directly.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer needs to launch a test server for a new application prototype. The developer logs into the AWS Management Console, selects an Amazon EC2 instance type, configures the security group, and starts the instance. The instance is running within two minutes, and the developer did not need to submit a formal request to the company's IT procurement team or wait for approval from a cloud administrator. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best demonstrate?
Question 2
A solutions architect is planning a new web application on AWS. The workload will include 3 Amazon EC2 instances (t3.medium) running 24/7, an Application Load Balancer, and an Amazon RDS for MySQL db.t3.small database. The architect needs to estimate the monthly cost for the first year, considering different purchasing options (On-Demand, 1-year All Upfront Reserved Instance, and Compute Savings Plan). Which AWS tool should the architect use to create this estimate?
Question 3
A company's development team frequently needs temporary test environments. A developer can log into the AWS Management Console, select an Amazon EC2 instance type, configure storage, and launch the instance within minutes without any interaction with the IT infrastructure team. This capability is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?
Question 4
A company's finance team needs to analyze AWS spending in detail. They require a report that includes hourly cost data for each AWS service, each individual resource (e.g., a specific EC2 instance), and any cost allocation tags applied. The team plans to export this data to an Amazon S3 bucket and then import it into a custom business intelligence (BI) analytics dashboard. Which AWS tool should the finance team use to generate this level of detailed cost data?
Question 5
A company uses AWS for its development environment. The finance team wants to set a monthly budget of $10,000. They want to receive an email notification when the actual costs reach 80% of the budget ($8,000) and again when costs exceed the budget. The team needs a managed AWS service that can automatically send these alerts without requiring custom code or third-party tools. Which AWS service should the team use?
Question 6
A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce a policy that restricts SSH access (port 22) from the internet (0.0.0.0/0) in all VPCs across all accounts. The team wants to centrally define the allowed rules and automatically apply them to newly created VPCs and security groups, while also automatically remediating any existing non-compliant security groups. Which AWS service should the team use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure a budget action that runs an AWS Systems Manager automation document to stop the EC2 instances. — AWS Budgets actions allow you to define automated responses when a budget threshold is exceeded. One type of action is to run an AWS Systems Manager automation document, which can be configured to stop EC2 instances. This provides a built-in, no-code solution for the described requirement. Budget alerts only send notifications, they do not take automated actions. Budget actions can apply an IAM policy, but an IAM policy alone cannot stop EC2 instances; it can only control permissions. While a custom event-driven architecture using AWS Budgets alerts and Amazon EventBridge could trigger a Lambda function to stop instances, that approach requires custom scripting and additional infrastructure, which the team wants to avoid. The native budget action with Systems Manager automation is the correct choice.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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