- A
AWS CloudTrail to monitor storage events.
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls, not storage metrics.
- B
AWS Config to track storage configuration changes.
Why wrong: Config is for configuration compliance, not real-time metrics.
- C
Amazon CloudWatch with an alarm on the FreeStorageSpace metric and an SNS topic.
CloudWatch monitors metrics and can trigger actions via SNS.
- D
Amazon Inspector to check for storage vulnerabilities.
Why wrong: Inspector assesses application security, not storage metrics.
Question 346 of 1,730
DBS-C01 Management and Operations Practice Question
This DBS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of management and operations. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 SysOps administrator is tasked with monitoring the free storage space on all Amazon RDS DB instances. Which AWS service should be used to set up an alarm that sends an email notification when free storage space falls below a threshold?
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 CloudWatch with an alarm on the FreeStorageSpace metric and an SNS topic.
Amazon CloudWatch provides the `FreeStorageSpace` metric for RDS DB instances, which reports the amount of available storage in bytes. You can create a CloudWatch alarm on this metric and configure it to send a notification via an Amazon SNS topic when the value falls below a specified threshold, enabling proactive monitoring of storage capacity.
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 CloudTrail to monitor storage events.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not storage metrics.
- ✗
AWS Config to track storage configuration changes.
Why it's wrong here
Config is for configuration compliance, not real-time metrics.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch with an alarm on the FreeStorageSpace metric and an SNS topic.
Why this is correct
CloudWatch monitors metrics and can trigger actions via SNS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector to check for storage vulnerabilities.
Why it's wrong here
Inspector assesses application security, not storage metrics.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing logging/auditing services (CloudTrail, Config) or security scanners (Inspector) with the monitoring and alerting capabilities of CloudWatch, leading candidates to select a service that cannot evaluate real-time metric thresholds.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The `FreeStorageSpace` metric is published by the RDS agent to CloudWatch every minute (standard resolution) and represents the amount of storage not yet consumed by database files, logs, and temporary data. When setting an alarm, you can define a threshold in bytes (e.g., 5 GB = 5,368,709,120 bytes) and choose a period and evaluation periods to avoid flapping due to transient spikes. In a real-world scenario, a SysOps administrator might set a multi-step alarm (e.g., warning at 20% free, critical at 10%) to trigger an SNS email to the operations team before the instance becomes read-only due to full storage.
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 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.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DBS-C01 question test?
Management and Operations — This question tests Management and Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon CloudWatch with an alarm on the FreeStorageSpace metric and an SNS topic. — Amazon CloudWatch provides the `FreeStorageSpace` metric for RDS DB instances, which reports the amount of available storage in bytes. You can create a CloudWatch alarm on this metric and configure it to send a notification via an Amazon SNS topic when the value falls below a specified threshold, enabling proactive monitoring of storage capacity.
What should I do if I get this DBS-C01 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
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This DBS-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 DBS-C01 exam.
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