This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is using Amazon CloudWatch Synthetics to monitor the availability of a web application. The canary runs every 5 minutes from multiple locations. Recently, the canary has been failing intermittently with HTTP 503 errors, but the application team reports that the application is healthy. Which step should the DevOps engineer take to identify the cause of the false positives?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Review the canary's CloudWatch Logs to check for network errors or timeouts.
Option C is correct because checking the canary's CloudWatch Logs might reveal that the failure is due to a network timeout or other client-side issue, not the application. Option A is wrong because increasing canary frequency would generate more data but not identify the cause. Option B is wrong because increasing timeout might mask the issue. Option D is wrong because adding more locations would not pinpoint the cause if the issue is client-side.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Increase the canary timeout setting to allow more time for the application to respond.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing timeout might mask the issue rather than identify it.
✗
Add more canary locations to increase coverage.
Why it's wrong here
Adding locations would not pinpoint the cause if the issue is client-side.
✓
Review the canary's CloudWatch Logs to check for network errors or timeouts.
Why this is correct
Logs might reveal that the failure is due to network or client-side issues, not the application.
Increase the canary run frequency to every 1 minute.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing frequency would generate more data but not identify the cause.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DOP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Review the canary's CloudWatch Logs to check for network errors or timeouts. — Option C is correct because checking the canary's CloudWatch Logs might reveal that the failure is due to a network timeout or other client-side issue, not the application. Option A is wrong because increasing canary frequency would generate more data but not identify the cause. Option B is wrong because increasing timeout might mask the issue. Option D is wrong because adding more locations would not pinpoint the cause if the issue is client-side.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DOP-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Question Discussion
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