Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon CloudWatch Logs subscription and Kinesis Data Firehose. CloudWatch Logs subscription enables you to stream log data from multiple AWS accounts and regions to a single destination, while Kinesis Data Firehose provides the near real-time delivery engine that buffers, transforms, and loads that streaming log data directly into your centralized S3 bucket. This combination works because the subscription filter captures logs from each account’s EC2 instances and forwards them to a Firehose delivery stream, which can aggregate data from many sources and write it to S3 in batches as small as 60 seconds. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of log aggregation patterns versus monitoring services—a common trap is choosing CloudTrail (which only records API activity) or Lambda alone (which lacks the throughput for high-volume log streaming). Remember the memory tip: “Subscribe to stream, Firehose to deliver”—CloudWatch Logs subscription handles the cross-account collection, and Kinesis Data Firehose handles the near real-time S3 delivery.
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 DevOps engineer needs to set up centralized logging for an application running on multiple EC2 instances across different AWS accounts. The logs must be aggregated in a single S3 bucket and also be analyzed in near real-time. Which TWO services should be used together to achieve this?
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)
Why wrong: SQS is for message queuing, not log aggregation.
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Can receive logs from CloudWatch subscription and deliver to S3.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail captures API calls, not application logs.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs subscription
Can forward logs to Kinesis Data Firehose.
AWS Lambda
Why wrong: Lambda can process logs but is not ideal for aggregation across accounts.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Option B (CloudWatch Logs subscription) and Option D (Kinesis Data Firehose) are correct. CloudWatch Logs subscription can forward logs to Kinesis Data Firehose, which can then deliver to S3 in near real-time. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail is for API logs. Option C is wrong because Lambda alone cannot efficiently aggregate logs from multiple accounts. Option E is wrong because SQS is for decoupling, not for log aggregation.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS)
Why it's wrong here
SQS is for message queuing, not log aggregation.
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose
Why this is correct
Can receive logs from CloudWatch subscription and deliver to S3.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail captures API calls, not application logs.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs subscription
Why this is correct
Can forward logs to Kinesis Data Firehose.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Lambda can process logs but is not ideal for aggregation across accounts.
Common exam traps
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
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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
Identify which DOP-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.
Monitoring and Logging — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose — Option B (CloudWatch Logs subscription) and Option D (Kinesis Data Firehose) are correct. CloudWatch Logs subscription can forward logs to Kinesis Data Firehose, which can then deliver to S3 in near real-time. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail is for API logs. Option C is wrong because Lambda alone cannot efficiently aggregate logs from multiple accounts. Option E is wrong because SQS is for decoupling, not for log aggregation.
Identify which DOP-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.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
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