SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
A company uses CloudWatch Logs to collect application logs from EC2 instances. The logs are critical for troubleshooting. The operations team notices that some log entries are missing during peak hours. The CloudWatch Logs agent is configured with a batch size of 1 MB and a batch timeout of 10 seconds. Which TWO actions should the administrator take to reduce the chance of missing log events?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates think increasing the batch timeout (Option D) will help, but in reality, a longer timeout increases the risk of buffer overflow during peak traffic, whereas increasing batch size and enabling compression directly address throughput and payload limits.
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
✓
Increase the batch size to 5 MB.
Increasing the batch size from 1 MB to 5 MB allows the CloudWatch Logs agent to buffer more log data before sending a request. During peak hours, log volume spikes can cause the agent to drop events if the batch fills up faster than it can be transmitted. A larger batch size reduces the frequency of API calls and helps ensure that all log entries are successfully delivered.
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 PutLogEvents directly from the application.
Why it's wrong here
This bypasses the agent's buffering and retry logic, likely making the problem worse.
- ✗
Reduce the retry count for failed requests.
Why it's wrong here
Reducing retries increases data loss if transient failures occur.
- ✓
Increase the batch size to 5 MB.
Why this is correct
Larger batches reduce the number of API calls, lowering the chance of hitting rate limits.
- ✗
Increase the batch timeout to 30 seconds.
Why it's wrong here
Longer timeouts increase the risk of buffer overflow and data loss if logs are generated rapidly.
- ✓
Enable log compression in the agent configuration.
Why this is correct
Compression reduces the size of data sent per call, helping avoid throttling.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.