This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. 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 needs to monitor the CPU utilization of its Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL instance. The metric should be available in Amazon CloudWatch with a granularity of 1 minute. Which action should the team take?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
No additional configuration is needed; RDS automatically sends metrics to CloudWatch.
Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL automatically publishes metrics, including CPU utilization, to CloudWatch with a default granularity of 1 minute for standard instances. No additional configuration is required to enable this basic monitoring. The metrics are collected by the RDS hypervisor layer and sent to CloudWatch without needing an agent or extra setup.
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.
✗
Install the CloudWatch agent on the RDS instance.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: CloudWatch agent cannot be installed on RDS.
✗
Enable Enhanced Monitoring for the RDS instance.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Enhanced Monitoring provides OS-level metrics but is not required for basic CPU.
✓
No additional configuration is needed; RDS automatically sends metrics to CloudWatch.
Why this is correct
Correct: RDS publishes CPU utilization to CloudWatch by default.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable Performance Insights for the RDS instance.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Performance Insights provides database performance metrics, not CPU.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Enhanced Monitoring (which provides OS-level metrics at higher granularity) with basic CloudWatch monitoring, leading them to incorrectly select Option B when the question only requires standard 1-minute CPU utilization metrics.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
RDS publishes metrics to CloudWatch via the hypervisor, which measures CPU utilization from the host level, not the guest OS. This means the reported CPU utilization reflects the instance's share of the underlying hardware, not the database process's CPU usage. For workloads requiring sub-minute granularity or OS-level metrics, Enhanced Monitoring must be enabled, which uses an agent on the RDS instance (managed by AWS) to collect metrics at 1-second intervals.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: No additional configuration is needed; RDS automatically sends metrics to CloudWatch. — Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL automatically publishes metrics, including CPU utilization, to CloudWatch with a default granularity of 1 minute for standard instances. No additional configuration is required to enable this basic monitoring. The metrics are collected by the RDS hypervisor layer and sent to CloudWatch without needing an agent or extra setup.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 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.
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This DOP-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 DOP-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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