The answer is Amazon CloudWatch and the Amazon CloudWatch Agent, which together enable you to monitor EC2 CPU and memory utilization. By default, CloudWatch captures hypervisor-level metrics like CPU utilization, but it cannot see in-guest metrics such as memory usage. The CloudWatch Agent must be installed on the EC2 instance to collect memory utilization and send it as custom metrics to CloudWatch, where you can then visualize both CPU and memory data. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this distinction is a frequent trap: many candidates assume CloudWatch alone captures memory, but it only collects what the hypervisor exposes. The exam tests your understanding that the CloudWatch Agent bridges the gap for OS-level metrics. A helpful memory tip is “Hypervisor for CPU, Agent for memory”—if you need memory, you must install the agent.
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. 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 needs to monitor the CPU and memory utilization of its EC2 instances. Which TWO services can be used to collect and visualize these metrics?
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 native AWS monitoring service that collects and stores metrics such as CPU utilization and memory utilization from EC2 instances. However, by default, CloudWatch only captures hypervisor-level metrics (like CPU) and not in-guest metrics (like memory utilization). To collect memory utilization, you must install the Amazon CloudWatch Agent on the instance, which sends custom metrics to CloudWatch. Together, CloudWatch and the CloudWatch Agent provide both collection and visualization of CPU and memory metrics.
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.
✓
Amazon CloudWatch
Why this is correct
CloudWatch collects CPU utilization by default and can display metrics.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not performance metrics.
✓
Amazon CloudWatch Agent
Why this is correct
The CloudWatch agent collects memory and disk metrics from EC2 instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config tracks configuration changes, not performance.
✗
AWS Systems Manager
Why it's wrong here
Systems Manager provides operational management but not metric collection.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume CloudWatch alone collects all EC2 metrics, but they miss that memory utilization requires the CloudWatch Agent because it is an in-guest metric not provided by the hypervisor.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Amazon CloudWatch Agent uses the procstat plugin on Linux or Performance Counters on Windows to collect memory utilization, sending data as custom metrics via the PutMetricData API. CloudWatch retains metric data at 1-second granularity for custom metrics, and you can create dashboards or alarms for visualization and alerting. Without the agent, memory utilization is not available because it requires guest OS access, unlike CPU utilization which is exposed by the hypervisor through the EC2 instance metadata.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — This question tests Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — 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 native AWS monitoring service that collects and stores metrics such as CPU utilization and memory utilization from EC2 instances. However, by default, CloudWatch only captures hypervisor-level metrics (like CPU) and not in-guest metrics (like memory utilization). To collect memory utilization, you must install the Amazon CloudWatch Agent on the instance, which sends custom metrics to CloudWatch. Together, CloudWatch and the CloudWatch Agent provide both collection and visualization of CPU and memory metrics.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This SOA-C02 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 SOA-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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