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Operations and Maintenance →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Monitoring CPU Utilization with CloudWatch Alarms

This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 SAP administrator wants to monitor the CPU utilization of an SAP application server running on an EC2 instance. Which AWS service should be used to set up an alarm when CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 minutes?

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

✓

Amazon CloudWatch

Amazon CloudWatch is the correct service for monitoring CPU utilization and setting alarms. CloudWatch collects metrics like CPUUtilization from EC2 instances, and you can create a CloudWatch Alarm that triggers when the metric exceeds a threshold (e.g., 90%) for a specified duration (e.g., 5 minutes). The other options are incorrect: AWS CloudTrail logs API calls for auditing, not metrics; AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice recommendations; and AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes. Therefore, CloudWatch (Option C) is the correct choice.

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

    Why it's wrong here

    CloudTrail logs API activity, not performance metrics.

  • ✗

    AWS Trusted Advisor

    Why it's wrong here

    Trusted Advisor provides recommendations, not real-time alarms.

  • ✓

    Amazon CloudWatch

    Why this is correct

    CloudWatch Alarms can monitor metrics and trigger actions based on thresholds.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    AWS Config

    Why it's wrong here

    AWS Config evaluates resource configurations, not performance.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PAS-C01 question test?

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: Amazon CloudWatch — Amazon CloudWatch is the correct service for monitoring CPU utilization and setting alarms. CloudWatch collects metrics like CPUUtilization from EC2 instances, and you can create a CloudWatch Alarm that triggers when the metric exceeds a threshold (e.g., 90%) for a specified duration (e.g., 5 minutes). The other options are incorrect: AWS CloudTrail logs API calls for auditing, not metrics; AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice recommendations; and AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes. Therefore, CloudWatch (Option C) is the correct choice.

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

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Same concept, more angles

2 more ways this is tested on PAS-C01

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 SAP application server EC2 instance and send an alert if it exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used?

easy
  • A.AWS CloudTrail
  • B.VPC Flow Logs
  • ✓ C.Amazon CloudWatch Alarm
  • D.AWS Config

Why C: Amazon CloudWatch Alarm is the correct service for monitoring CPU utilization and sending alerts when the CPU utilization exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. CloudWatch Alarms can be configured to monitor any CloudWatch metric (such as CPUUtilization) and trigger actions like sending a notification via Amazon SNS. Option A (AWS CloudTrail) is incorrect because it records API calls for auditing, not metric monitoring. Option B (VPC Flow Logs) is incorrect as it captures network traffic information, not CPU metrics. Option D (AWS Config) is incorrect because it evaluates resource compliance against rules, not performance metrics.

Variation 2. An SAP Basis administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of all EC2 instances running SAP applications. The team wants to receive alerts when CPU utilization exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used to set up this monitoring and alerting?

easy
  • ✓ A.Amazon CloudWatch
  • B.AWS Trusted Advisor
  • C.AWS CloudTrail
  • D.AWS Config

Why A: Amazon CloudWatch is the correct service because it can collect CPU utilization metrics from EC2 instances and trigger alarms when the metric exceeds a threshold (e.g., 80% for 5 consecutive minutes). AWS Trusted Advisor provides best-practice recommendations but cannot create custom metric alarms. AWS CloudTrail is for auditing API calls, not monitoring performance metrics. AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes, not real-time performance metrics.

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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026

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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.