← CLF-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 119 of 1,024

Billing, Pricing, and Support →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is AWS Compute Optimizer. This service is the correct choice because it uses machine learning to analyze historical utilization patterns for CPU, memory, and network over a configurable lookback period—including the 14 days specified—and generates automated right-sizing recommendations to identify over-provisioned or underutilized EC2 instances, directly supporting the finance team’s cost-reduction goal. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of which service provides ML-driven, metric-based optimization versus simpler monitoring tools like CloudWatch (which only shows raw metrics without recommendations) or AWS Trusted Advisor (which offers general cost checks but not instance-specific right-sizing). A common trap is confusing Compute Optimizer with Cost Explorer, but remember: Cost Explorer shows past spending, while Compute Optimizer tells you how to change your instances to spend less. Memory tip: “Compute Optimizer computes the right fit”—it’s the only service that uses ML to recommend specific instance size changes based on utilization history.

CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question

This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of billing, pricing, and support. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A company runs 200 Amazon EC2 instances for its web application. The finance team wants to identify instances that are over-provisioned or underutilized to reduce costs. The team needs automated recommendations that consider the instance's CPU, memory, and network utilization patterns over the past 14 days. Which AWS service should the team use?

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Read the full NAT/PAT explanation →

A
AWS Compute Optimizer
This option is correct because AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes utilization patterns over a configurable lookback period (up to 93 days, default 14 days) and delivers actionable rightsizing recommendations to help reduce costs.
B
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. While AWS Trusted Advisor includes cost optimization checks (e.g., idle instances, underutilized EBS volumes), it does not provide the deep, ML-based rightsizing recommendations that consider 14 days of detailed utilization for each instance.
C
AWS Cost Explorer
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. AWS Cost Explorer provides cost and usage data visualization and forecasting, but it does not generate recommendations for rightsizing EC2 instances based on utilization patterns.
D
AWS Budgets
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. AWS Budgets allows you to set custom cost and usage budgets and receive alerts, but it does not provide rightsizing recommendations for EC2 instances.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

AWS Compute Optimizer

AWS Compute Optimizer is the correct service because it uses machine learning to analyze historical utilization metrics (CPU, memory, network) over a specified lookback period (up to 93 days, but 14 days is supported) and generates actionable recommendations to right-size EC2 instances. It specifically identifies over-provisioned and underutilized instances, directly addressing the finance team's cost-reduction goal with automated, metric-driven insights.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
AWS Compute Optimizer
Why this is correct
This option is correct because AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes utilization patterns over a configurable lookback period (up to 93 days, default 14 days) and delivers actionable rightsizing recommendations to help reduce costs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. While AWS Trusted Advisor includes cost optimization checks (e.g., idle instances, underutilized EBS volumes), it does not provide the deep, ML-based rightsizing recommendations that consider 14 days of detailed utilization for each instance.
✗
AWS Cost Explorer
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. AWS Cost Explorer provides cost and usage data visualization and forecasting, but it does not generate recommendations for rightsizing EC2 instances based on utilization patterns.
✗
AWS Budgets
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. AWS Budgets allows you to set custom cost and usage budgets and receive alerts, but it does not provide rightsizing recommendations for EC2 instances.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often choose AWS Trusted Advisor because it is a well-known cost optimization tool, but they overlook that it only checks CPU utilization and ignores memory and network metrics, which are explicitly required in the question.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

AWS Compute Optimizer leverages a machine learning model trained on billions of anonymized AWS resource metrics to generate recommendations. It analyzes CloudWatch metrics (e.g., CPUUtilization, NetworkIn/Out, and MemoryUtilization via the CloudWatch agent) over a configurable lookback period (default 14 days, up to 93 days) and provides a 'reason code' for each recommendation, such as 'MemoryOverprovisioned' or 'CPUUnderprovisioned'. A real-world scenario where this matters is a company running a memory-intensive application where CPU appears low but memory is near capacity — Compute Optimizer will flag the instance as over-provisioned for CPU but potentially under-provisioned for memory, which Trusted Advisor would miss.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this CLF-C02 question test?

Billing, Pricing, and Support — This question tests Billing, Pricing, and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: AWS Compute Optimizer — AWS Compute Optimizer is the correct service because it uses machine learning to analyze historical utilization metrics (CPU, memory, network) over a specified lookback period (up to 93 days, but 14 days is supported) and generates actionable recommendations to right-size EC2 instances. It specifically identifies over-provisioned and underutilized instances, directly addressing the finance team's cost-reduction goal with automated, metric-driven insights.

What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on CLF-C02

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A company runs a production web application on a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances. The operations team has observed that most instances have an average CPU utilization below 10% over the past month. They want to receive automated, ML-based recommendations for downsizing these instances to smaller instance types to reduce costs without compromising performance. The team also wants to see the estimated monthly savings for each recommendation. Which AWS service should the operations team use?

medium

A.AWS Trusted Advisor
B.AWS Cost Explorer
✓ C.AWS Compute Optimizer
D.AWS Budgets

Why C: AWS Compute Optimizer is the correct service because it uses machine learning to analyze historical utilization metrics (such as CPU, memory, and network) of EC2 instances and provides actionable recommendations to downsize or rightsize instances. It specifically generates estimated monthly savings for each recommendation, directly addressing the need for automated, ML-based downsizing suggestions without compromising performance.

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This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.