The answer is to increase the number of evaluation periods to 3, so the alarm triggers only if the lag is high for 3 consecutive minutes. This directly reduces false positives on the Aurora replication lag alarm by requiring sustained high lag rather than reacting to brief, transient spikes that naturally occur in a multi-region setup. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this tests your understanding of CloudWatch alarm configuration and the difference between period and evaluation periods—a common trap is confusing a shorter period with faster detection, which actually increases false alarms. The key insight is that evaluation periods enforce a “breach window,” filtering out noise from temporary network jitter or load bursts. For memory, think “three strikes and you’re out”—three consecutive high data points must occur before the alarm fires, ensuring you’re alerted only to persistent replication issues that truly impact read replicas.
DOP-C02 Monitoring and Logging Practice Question
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 runs a multi-region application on Amazon EC2 instances across us-east-1 and eu-west-1. The application uses an Amazon Aurora global database for writes in us-east-1 and reads in eu-west-1. The DevOps team wants to monitor the replication lag between the primary and secondary regions. They have set up a CloudWatch alarm on the AuroraReplicaLag metric in both regions. However, they notice that the alarm in eu-west-1 sometimes triggers false positives when the lag spikes briefly but then recovers. The team wants to reduce false alarms while still being alerted to sustained high lag that could impact read replicas. The team is already using a standard CloudWatch alarm with a period of 1 minute and evaluation periods of 1. What should the team change to reduce false positives?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Increase the number of evaluation periods to 3, so the alarm triggers only if the lag is high for 3 consecutive minutes.
Option A is correct because increasing evaluation periods requires the lag to be high for a longer duration before triggering an alarm. Option B is wrong because reducing the period would cause more frequent data points, potentially increasing false alarms. Option C is wrong because increasing the threshold would only alert on higher lag, but false positives are due to brief spikes. Option D is wrong because a composite alarm combining multiple metrics is not needed; the issue is with the evaluation period.
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.
✗
Increase the alarm threshold to a higher value, such as 10 seconds.
Why it's wrong here
This would only alert on higher lag, but false positives are caused by brief spikes, not the threshold value.
✗
Reduce the metric period to 30 seconds to get more granular data.
Why it's wrong here
This would increase the number of data points and potentially more false positives.
✓
Increase the number of evaluation periods to 3, so the alarm triggers only if the lag is high for 3 consecutive minutes.
Why this is correct
This requires sustained high lag, filtering out brief spikes.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create a composite alarm that triggers when both the AuroraReplicaLag and CPUUtilization metrics are high.
Why it's wrong here
CPUUtilization is not directly related to replication lag; this would not reduce false positives.
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
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 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 — 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: Increase the number of evaluation periods to 3, so the alarm triggers only if the lag is high for 3 consecutive minutes. — Option A is correct because increasing evaluation periods requires the lag to be high for a longer duration before triggering an alarm. Option B is wrong because reducing the period would cause more frequent data points, potentially increasing false alarms. Option C is wrong because increasing the threshold would only alert on higher lag, but false positives are due to brief spikes. Option D is wrong because a composite alarm combining multiple metrics is not needed; the issue is with the evaluation period.
What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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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