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Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question

This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of continuous improvement for existing solutions. Examine the command output carefully: the correct answer depends on what the output actually shows, not on general recall alone. 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 EC2 instances behind an ALB. Users report intermittent 503 errors during peak hours. The metrics show the target group's healthy host count drops to zero periodically. What is the most likely cause?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
The ALB's idle timeout is set too low.
Why wrong: A low idle timeout would cause connection drops, not a drop in healthy host count.
B
The security group for the EC2 instances does not allow inbound traffic from the ALB.
Why wrong: This would cause health checks to fail with no response, but the healthy host count would drop to zero only if all instances are affected; however, the more likely first step is a health check path issue.
C
The EC2 instances are in an Auto Scaling group with insufficient capacity.
Why wrong: Insufficient capacity would reduce the number of instances, but the healthy host count would not drop to zero if some instances are running.
D
The health check path is misconfigured and returns HTTP 404.
A 404 response causes the ALB to mark the instance as unhealthy, reducing the healthy host count.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

The health check path is misconfigured and returns HTTP 404.

The ALB performs health checks on targets by sending requests to the configured health check path. If the health check path returns an HTTP 404 (or any non-200 status), the ALB marks the target as unhealthy. When all instances have a misconfigured health check path that returns 404, the healthy host count drops to zero, resulting in 503 errors. Option D is correct because a misconfigured health check path directly causes all instances to be marked unhealthy. Option A (idle timeout) would cause connection timeouts but not affect healthy host count. Option B (security group) would prevent traffic from ALB, but the health check would still succeed if the security group allows ALB traffic, and it would not cause healthy host count to drop to zero periodically if misconfigured. Option C (insufficient capacity) would cause scaling issues but not zero healthy hosts if the health check is correct. Therefore, D is the most likely cause.

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.

✗
The ALB's idle timeout is set too low.
Why it's wrong here
A low idle timeout would cause connection drops, not a drop in healthy host count.
✗
The security group for the EC2 instances does not allow inbound traffic from the ALB.
Why it's wrong here
This would cause health checks to fail with no response, but the healthy host count would drop to zero only if all instances are affected; however, the more likely first step is a health check path issue.
✗
The EC2 instances are in an Auto Scaling group with insufficient capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Insufficient capacity would reduce the number of instances, but the healthy host count would not drop to zero if some instances are running.
✓
The health check path is misconfigured and returns HTTP 404.
Why this is correct
A 404 response causes the ALB to mark the instance as unhealthy, reducing the healthy host count.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which SAP-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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SAP-C02 question test?

Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — This question tests Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The health check path is misconfigured and returns HTTP 404. — The ALB performs health checks on targets by sending requests to the configured health check path. If the health check path returns an HTTP 404 (or any non-200 status), the ALB marks the target as unhealthy. When all instances have a misconfigured health check path that returns 404, the healthy host count drops to zero, resulting in 503 errors. Option D is correct because a misconfigured health check path directly causes all instances to be marked unhealthy. Option A (idle timeout) would cause connection timeouts but not affect healthy host count. Option B (security group) would prevent traffic from ALB, but the health check would still succeed if the security group allows ALB traffic, and it would not cause healthy host count to drop to zero periodically if misconfigured. Option C (insufficient capacity) would cause scaling issues but not zero healthy hosts if the health check is correct. Therefore, D is the most likely cause.

What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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