The answer is a CloudWatch metric for CPU utilization, a CloudWatch alarm, and an SNS topic. These three components work together because the metric provides the raw data stream of CPU usage from the EC2 instance, the alarm evaluates that metric against the threshold of 90% over a five-minute period, and the SNS topic delivers the notification to the operations team when the alarm state changes to ALARM. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the core monitoring triad for SAP workloads, often appearing in questions that try to distract you with unnecessary services like Lambda for remediation or CloudTrail for auditing. A common trap is assuming you need a Lambda function to trigger the notification, but SNS alone handles the alerting. Remember the memory tip: “Metric, Alarm, SNS — that’s all you need for an alerting success.”
PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. 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 SAP on AWS and uses CloudWatch for monitoring. They want to set up an alarm that notifies the operations team when the CPU utilization of their SAP application server exceeds 90% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which THREE components are required 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
✓
A CloudWatch alarm configured with the metric and threshold.
Options A, B, and D are correct. Option A: A CloudWatch metric is needed. Option B: A CloudWatch alarm is needed. Option D: An SNS topic is needed to send notifications. Option C is wrong because a Lambda function is not required. Option E is wrong because CloudTrail is not needed.
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.
✗
AWS CloudTrail to log the alarm actions.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail is for API auditing, not for alarm setup.
✓
A CloudWatch alarm configured with the metric and threshold.
Why this is correct
The alarm triggers when the threshold is breached.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
An Amazon SNS topic to send the notification.
Why this is correct
SNS delivers the alarm notification.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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 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 PAS-C01 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.
Operations and Maintenance — This question tests Operations and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A CloudWatch alarm configured with the metric and threshold. — Options A, B, and D are correct. Option A: A CloudWatch metric is needed. Option B: A CloudWatch alarm is needed. Option D: An SNS topic is needed to send notifications. Option C is wrong because a Lambda function is not required. Option E is wrong because CloudTrail is not needed.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which PAS-C01 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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An SAP administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an EC2 instance running SAP HANA. Which AWS service should be used to set an alarm when CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 minutes?
easy
A.AWS CloudTrail
B.AWS Trusted Advisor
C.AWS Config
✓ D.Amazon CloudWatch
Why D: Option C is correct because CloudWatch alarms can be set on EC2 metrics like CPUUtilization. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail is for API logging. Option B is wrong because Config is for resource compliance. Option D is wrong because Trusted Advisor provides recommendations, not monitoring.
Variation 2. An SAP system administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an EC2 instance running SAP NetWeaver. The administrator wants to receive an alert when the CPU utilization exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used to create this alarm?
easy
A.AWS CloudTrail
B.AWS Config
C.Amazon CloudWatch Logs
✓ D.Amazon CloudWatch Alarms
Why D: Option B is correct because CloudWatch Alarms can monitor metrics and trigger actions. Option A is wrong because CloudWatch Logs is for log data. Option C is wrong because CloudTrail is for API activity. Option D is wrong because Config is for resource configuration.
Variation 3. A company needs to monitor the CPU utilization of SAP EC2 instances and send an alert if it exceeds 90% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used?
easy
A.AWS Config
✓ B.Amazon CloudWatch Alarms
C.AWS Trusted Advisor
D.AWS CloudTrail
Why B: Option C is correct because CloudWatch Alarms monitor metrics and trigger actions. Option A (CloudTrail) is for API auditing. Option B (Config) is for configuration compliance. Option D (Trusted Advisor) provides best-practice checks.
Variation 4. A company is running SAP on AWS and wants to send alerts when the CPU utilization of an EC2 instance exceeds 90% for 5 minutes. Which AWS service should be used to create this alarm?
easy
A.AWS Lambda
B.AWS Config
C.Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
✓ D.Amazon CloudWatch Alarms
Why D: Option A is correct because Amazon CloudWatch Alarms can trigger based on metrics. Option B (AWS Lambda) can be a target, not the alarm service. Option C (Amazon SNS) is a notification service. Option D (AWS Config) is for configuration rules.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
Question Discussion
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This PAS-C01 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 PAS-C01 exam.
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