DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is monitoring an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance. The engineer wants to set up alerts for high CPU utilization and low free storage space. Which AWS services can be used together to achieve this? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse AWS CloudTrail (audit logging) with CloudWatch (monitoring), or think AWS Config can monitor performance metrics instead of just configuration compliance.
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
✓
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Amazon CloudWatch [CORRECT] is the AWS monitoring service that collects RDS for PostgreSQL metrics such as CPUUtilization and FreeStorageSpace, and it lets you create alarms that trigger when those metrics cross defined thresholds. Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) [CORRECT] is the notification service that CloudWatch alarms publish to, delivering email, SMS, or other messages to the engineer when high CPU or low free storage is detected. Together, CloudWatch alarms plus an SNS topic form the standard alerting pipeline for RDS metric thresholds. AWS CloudTrail records API activity and audit events, not performance metrics, so it cannot detect high CPU or low storage. AWS Config evaluates resource configuration compliance and does not monitor runtime utilization metrics. Amazon Route 53 is a DNS and traffic-routing service and has no role in RDS metric alerting.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Why this is correct
Amazon SNS delivers the notifications that CloudWatch alarms trigger when CPU utilisation or free storage crosses a defined threshold on the RDS for PostgreSQL instance. It satisfies the alerting requirement by fanning out those alarm state changes to email, SMS or HTTP subscribers, completing the monitoring pipeline alongside CloudWatch.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch
Why this is correct
Amazon CloudWatch ingests the native RDS metrics for CPUUtilization and FreeStorageSpace, which RDS publishes automatically every minute without an agent. Alarm thresholds on those metric namespaces trigger Amazon SNS notifications, satisfying the stem's requirement to alert on high CPU and low free storage on the PostgreSQL instance.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API activity for audit purposes, recording who called which AWS action, but it captures no CPU or storage metrics and sends no threshold alerts. It is tempting because CloudTrail is a monitoring service, and it would be correct for auditing configuration changes made to the RDS instance.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration changes and evaluates compliance rules; it does not collect CPU or free-storage metrics or dispatch threshold notifications. It is tempting because Config monitors AWS resources, and it would be correct for detecting an RDS instance whose settings drift from a defined baseline.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 provides DNS resolution and health-check-based routing, so it neither gathers RDS performance metrics nor raises threshold alarms. It is tempting because Route 53 health checks trigger notifications, and it would be correct for failing over DNS traffic when an endpoint becomes unreachable.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.