SOA-C02 Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of deployment, provisioning, and automation. 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 has a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The SysOps Administrator needs to deploy a standardized set of baseline resources (VPC, subnets, security groups, and an S3 bucket for logs) into each new member account as soon as the account is created. The administrator wants to automate this process using AWS CloudFormation and ensure that the baseline resources are deployed without manual intervention. The organization uses AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config for governance. What solution should the administrator implement?
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets with automatic deployment to accounts in the organization.
StackSets can automatically deploy to new accounts.
B
Create an AWS Config rule that triggers an AWS Lambda function to deploy the baseline resources when a new account is created.
Why wrong: AWS Config rules evaluate resources, they do not create resources.
C
Store the CloudFormation template in Amazon S3 and use S3 event notifications to trigger a Lambda function that deploys the stack into the new account.
Why wrong: S3 events are not triggered by account creation.
D
Use AWS Service Catalog to create a portfolio with the baseline products and grant access to the organization.
Why wrong: Service Catalog requires manual provisioning by users.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets with automatic deployment to accounts in the organization.
Option C is correct. AWS CloudFormation StackSets allow deploying stacks across multiple accounts and regions from a management account. Combined with AWS Organizations, StackSets can automatically deploy to new accounts when they join the organization. Option A is wrong because AWS Config rules do not deploy resources. Option B is wrong because AWS CloudFormation templates deployed via S3 events require manual triggering. Option D is wrong because AWS Service Catalog allows provisioning but requires users to launch products manually.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets with automatic deployment to accounts in the organization.
Why this is correct
StackSets can automatically deploy to new accounts.
Create an AWS Config rule that triggers an AWS Lambda function to deploy the baseline resources when a new account is created.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config rules evaluate resources, they do not create resources.
✗
Store the CloudFormation template in Amazon S3 and use S3 event notifications to trigger a Lambda function that deploys the stack into the new account.
Why it's wrong here
S3 events are not triggered by account creation.
✗
Use AWS Service Catalog to create a portfolio with the baseline products and grant access to the organization.
Why it's wrong here
Service Catalog requires manual provisioning by users.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SOA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — This question tests Deployment, Provisioning, and Automation — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets with automatic deployment to accounts in the organization. — Option C is correct. AWS CloudFormation StackSets allow deploying stacks across multiple accounts and regions from a management account. Combined with AWS Organizations, StackSets can automatically deploy to new accounts when they join the organization. Option A is wrong because AWS Config rules do not deploy resources. Option B is wrong because AWS CloudFormation templates deployed via S3 events require manual triggering. Option D is wrong because AWS Service Catalog allows provisioning but requires users to launch products manually.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SOA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Question Discussion
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