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Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

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 uses Amazon CloudWatch Logs to store application logs. The SysOps administrator needs to detect when the number of log entries containing the string 'ERROR' exceeds 100 in any 5-minute window. When this threshold is breached, an email should be sent to the operations team. Which combination of AWS services should be used with the least operational overhead?

Clue words in this question

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

Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.

Question 1easymultiple choice

Read the full NAT/PAT explanation →

A
CloudWatch Logs Insights scheduled query with SNS action.
Why wrong: CloudWatch Logs Insights queries are for analysis, not real-time monitoring. Scheduled queries run periodically but do not provide the same low-latency alerting as metric filters and alarms.
B
Create a metric filter on the log group for 'ERROR', then create a CloudWatch alarm on that metric with an SNS action to send email.
This approach uses built-in CloudWatch features: metric filter extracts the count, alarm monitors the threshold, and SNS delivers the email. No custom code is needed.
C
Use a Lambda function that reads the log stream and sends an email via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) when errors exceed 100.
Why wrong: This requires custom code and managing a Lambda trigger, which incurs more operational overhead than using CloudWatch's built-in alarm capabilities.
D
Install an agent on the application server that sends logs to Amazon SQS, then poll the queue with a Lambda function to trigger an email.
Why wrong: This adds several moving parts (agent, SQS, Lambda) and increases complexity compared to the native CloudWatch solution.

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

✓

Create a metric filter on the log group for 'ERROR', then create a CloudWatch alarm on that metric with an SNS action to send email.

Option B is correct because it uses CloudWatch metric filters to extract the count of 'ERROR' log entries as a custom metric, then a CloudWatch alarm on that metric triggers an SNS topic to send email notifications. This approach requires no custom code or additional infrastructure, minimizing operational overhead while meeting the requirement of detecting >100 errors in any 5-minute period.

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.

✗
CloudWatch Logs Insights scheduled query with SNS action.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs Insights queries are for analysis, not real-time monitoring. Scheduled queries run periodically but do not provide the same low-latency alerting as metric filters and alarms.
✓
Create a metric filter on the log group for 'ERROR', then create a CloudWatch alarm on that metric with an SNS action to send email.
Why this is correct
This approach uses built-in CloudWatch features: metric filter extracts the count, alarm monitors the threshold, and SNS delivers the email. No custom code is needed.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a Lambda function that reads the log stream and sends an email via Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) when errors exceed 100.
Why it's wrong here
This requires custom code and managing a Lambda trigger, which incurs more operational overhead than using CloudWatch's built-in alarm capabilities.
✗
Install an agent on the application server that sends logs to Amazon SQS, then poll the queue with a Lambda function to trigger an email.
Why it's wrong here
This adds several moving parts (agent, SQS, Lambda) and increases complexity compared to the native CloudWatch solution.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may overcomplicate the solution by choosing a Lambda-based or custom agent approach, not realizing that CloudWatch metric filters and alarms provide a fully managed, serverless way to monitor log patterns with minimal operational overhead.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

CloudWatch metric filters are evaluated in near real-time as log events are ingested, and the resulting metric is published to CloudWatch Metrics with a 1-minute resolution. The alarm can be configured with a period of 5 minutes and a statistic of 'Sum' to count the total 'ERROR' occurrences, and when the threshold of 100 is breached, it transitions to ALARM state, which triggers the SNS topic to send an email. This pattern is a best practice for log-based alerting because it leverages CloudWatch's built-in aggregation and avoids the overhead of custom polling or stream processing.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SOA-C02 question test?

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: Create a metric filter on the log group for 'ERROR', then create a CloudWatch alarm on that metric with an SNS action to send email. — Option B is correct because it uses CloudWatch metric filters to extract the count of 'ERROR' log entries as a custom metric, then a CloudWatch alarm on that metric triggers an SNS topic to send email notifications. This approach requires no custom code or additional infrastructure, minimizing operational overhead while meeting the requirement of detecting >100 errors in any 5-minute period.

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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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