The answer is to enable ALB access logs stored in an S3 bucket, then use Amazon CloudWatch Contributor Insights to analyze top IP addresses and HTTP status codes. This is correct because ALB access logs capture every request’s client IP, request path, and status code in raw form, while Contributor Insights ingests that log data from S3 to automatically generate time-series graphs of the most frequent contributors—such as top IPs—and status code distributions without custom queries. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of operational observability patterns: Contributor Insights is purpose-built for high-cardinality log analysis, unlike CloudWatch Logs Insights which requires manual query writing. A common trap is choosing CloudWatch Logs Insights alone, but Contributor Insights provides built-in rule templates for “top talkers” and status code breakdowns, making it the faster, more scalable choice. Memory tip: “Contributor Insights for the top contributors, Logs Insights for the custom queries.”
DOP-C02 Monitoring and Logging Practice Question
This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. 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 company runs a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The operations team wants to analyze application access logs and error rates. They need to identify the top IP addresses making requests, as well as the distribution of HTTP status codes over time. Which THREE steps should the team take to achieve this? (Select THREE.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable access logs on the Application Load Balancer and store them in an Amazon S3 bucket.
Enabling access logs on the Application Load Balancer and storing them in an S3 bucket captures detailed HTTP request data, including client IPs, request paths, and HTTP status codes. This raw log data is essential for analyzing top IP addresses and status code distributions over time.
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.
✓
Enable access logs on the Application Load Balancer and store them in an Amazon S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
ALB access logs contain detailed request data including IP and HTTP status codes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights to run queries on the access logs.
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs Insights can analyze log data to find top IPs and status code distributions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable AWS CloudTrail to log all API calls.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs AWS API calls, not ALB access logs.
✗
Enable VPC Flow Logs to capture IP traffic data.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs provide network-level information, not HTTP status codes.
✓
Use Amazon CloudWatch Contributor Insights to analyze the top IP addresses.
Why this is correct
Contributor Insights can identify top contributors like IP addresses from log data.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing AWS CloudTrail (management plane logging) with application-level access logging, leading candidates to select CloudTrail instead of ALB access logs for HTTP request analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ALB access logs are delivered in a tab-separated format with fields like `client_ip`, `request_verb`, `response_code`, and `request_processing_time`. CloudWatch Contributor Insights can parse these logs from S3 or CloudWatch Logs to automatically compute top contributors (e.g., top IPs) using rules like `{ "aggregateOn": "client_ip", "filters": [] }`. CloudWatch Logs Insights uses a query language (e.g., `stats count() by client_ip`) to analyze status code distributions over time from the same log data.
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.
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: Enable access logs on the Application Load Balancer and store them in an Amazon S3 bucket. — Enabling access logs on the Application Load Balancer and storing them in an S3 bucket captures detailed HTTP request data, including client IPs, request paths, and HTTP status codes. This raw log data is essential for analyzing top IP addresses and status code distributions over time.
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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Question Discussion
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