Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon SNS. CloudWatch is the correct service because it natively collects RDS metrics like CPUUtilization and FreeStorageSpace, allowing you to set threshold-based alarms that trigger when high CPU or low storage conditions occur. SNS then handles the notification delivery, pushing alerts to email, SMS, or other endpoints so the data engineer can respond immediately. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this pairing tests your understanding of the monitoring and alerting lifecycle—a common trap is choosing AWS Config or Lambda instead, but Config tracks configuration changes, not real-time metrics, and Lambda is an optional action target, not a core alerting service. Remember that CloudWatch is the metric source and alarm engine, while SNS is the notification channel; they work as a pair, never alone. A quick memory tip: “Watch the metrics, then Notify the SNS.”
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations 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 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.)
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
SNS delivers alarm notifications.
Amazon CloudWatch
CloudWatch monitors metrics and can trigger alarms.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls, not metrics.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config tracks resource configuration changes, not metrics.
Amazon Route 53
Why wrong: Route 53 is DNS service.
Answer choices
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 is the correct service because it can monitor RDS metrics such as CPUUtilization and FreeStorageSpace, and trigger alarms based on thresholds. Amazon SNS is correct because it can receive CloudWatch alarm notifications and deliver them via email, SMS, or other endpoints, enabling the data engineer to be alerted when high CPU or low storage conditions occur.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
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
SNS delivers alarm notifications.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon CloudWatch
Why this is correct
CloudWatch monitors metrics and can trigger alarms.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not metrics.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config tracks resource configuration changes, not metrics.
Amazon Route 53
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 is DNS service.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS CloudTrail (audit logging) with CloudWatch (monitoring), or think AWS Config can monitor performance metrics instead of just configuration compliance.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudWatch collects RDS metrics at a default granularity of 1 minute (or 5 minutes for basic monitoring) and can trigger alarms that transition to ALARM, OK, or INSUFFICIENT_DATA states. SNS topics can be subscribed to by Lambda functions, HTTP endpoints, or email addresses, allowing automated remediation workflows such as scaling storage or stopping idle instances. A real-world scenario is setting a CloudWatch alarm on FreeStorageSpace < 5 GB to trigger an SNS notification, prompting the engineer to increase allocated storage before the instance becomes read-only.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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Data Operations and Support — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) — Amazon CloudWatch is the correct service because it can monitor RDS metrics such as CPUUtilization and FreeStorageSpace, and trigger alarms based on thresholds. Amazon SNS is correct because it can receive CloudWatch alarm notifications and deliver them via email, SMS, or other endpoints, enabling the data engineer to be alerted when high CPU or low storage conditions occur.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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