- A
The target tracking policy is not configured correctly because ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric, and the metric may not have been published yet.
ECS Service Auto Scaling can use predefined SQS metrics, but it requires the metric to be available in CloudWatch, which may have a delay. Also, the policy might be misconfigured.
- B
The SQS queue is not sending the ApproximateNumberOfMessagesVisible metric to CloudWatch.
Why wrong: SQS automatically sends this metric to CloudWatch at no additional cost.
- C
The payments service has reached the maximum number of tasks allowed by the service quota.
Why wrong: Service quotas can be increased, but the issue is that scaling is not triggering at all.
- D
The payments service is not configured to poll the SQS queue frequently enough.
Why wrong: Polling frequency does not affect scaling based on queue depth.
DVA-C02 Development with AWS Services Practice Question
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of development with aws services. 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 company runs a microservices application on Amazon ECS with Fargate. The application consists of three services: frontend, orders, and payments. The frontend service is behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The orders service processes requests from frontend and sends messages to the payments service via an Amazon SQS queue. The payments service polls the queue. Recently, during peak hours, the orders service experiences high latency and the SQS queue depth increases significantly. The monitoring shows that the payments service is not keeping up. The company wants to scale the payments service based on the queue depth. The developer has configured an ECS Service Auto Scaling target tracking policy using the SQS queue's ApproximateNumberOfMessagesVisible metric. However, the payments service is not scaling up as expected. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"most likely"Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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
The target tracking policy is not configured correctly because ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric, and the metric may not have been published yet.
Option D is correct because the ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric to be published to CloudWatch, and it may take a few minutes for the metric to appear. Option A is wrong because Fargate tasks do not have a maximum task limit by default; the limit is per region and can be increased. Option B is wrong because the SQS ApproximateNumberOfMessagesVisible metric is available as a standard CloudWatch metric. Option C is wrong because the payments service polls the queue; the scaling policy should work regardless of polling frequency.
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.
- ✓
The target tracking policy is not configured correctly because ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric, and the metric may not have been published yet.
Why this is correct
ECS Service Auto Scaling can use predefined SQS metrics, but it requires the metric to be available in CloudWatch, which may have a delay. Also, the policy might be misconfigured.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
The SQS queue is not sending the ApproximateNumberOfMessagesVisible metric to CloudWatch.
Why it's wrong here
SQS automatically sends this metric to CloudWatch at no additional cost.
- ✗
The payments service has reached the maximum number of tasks allowed by the service quota.
Why it's wrong here
Service quotas can be increased, but the issue is that scaling is not triggering at all.
- ✗
The payments service is not configured to poll the SQS queue frequently enough.
Why it's wrong here
Polling frequency does not affect scaling based on queue depth.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DVA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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Development with AWS Services — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DVA-C02 question test?
Development with AWS Services — This question tests Development with AWS Services — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The target tracking policy is not configured correctly because ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric, and the metric may not have been published yet. — Option D is correct because the ECS Service Auto Scaling requires a custom metric to be published to CloudWatch, and it may take a few minutes for the metric to appear. Option A is wrong because Fargate tasks do not have a maximum task limit by default; the limit is per region and can be increased. Option B is wrong because the SQS ApproximateNumberOfMessagesVisible metric is available as a standard CloudWatch metric. Option C is wrong because the payments service polls the queue; the scaling policy should work regardless of polling frequency.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which DVA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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 →
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
This DVA-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 DVA-C02 exam.
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