- A
Enable VPC Flow Logs in each account, publish them to an Amazon S3 bucket, and use Amazon Athena to query for top IPs.
Why wrong: This approach can work, but Athena requires running queries manually or scheduling them, and does not provide a real-time, continuous top-contributors view. Contributor Insights offers a managed, real-time solution.
- B
Use AWS Config rules across accounts to aggregate network traffic data and generate a report in Amazon QuickSight.
Why wrong: AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes, not network traffic. It cannot provide information about IP addresses generating traffic.
- C
Set up CloudWatch Contributor Insights rules in the central monitoring account, with cross-account log ingestion from each account's VPC Flow Logs published to CloudWatch Logs.
CloudWatch Contributor Insights can analyze log data from CloudWatch Logs across accounts using cross-account observability. It continuously identifies top contributors like source IP addresses, providing a dashboard without manual queries.
- D
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights with a saved query in the central account and schedule it to run every hour using EventBridge.
Why wrong: Logs Insights is great for ad-hoc queries, but it does not continuously run and update a top-N list by default. You would need to build a custom solution, whereas Contributor Insights is purpose-built for this.
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 SysOps administrator manages Amazon EC2 instances in multiple AWS accounts. The administrator needs to collect and analyze network traffic logs to identify the top IP addresses generating the most traffic to the instances. The administrator must centralize this analysis in a single monitoring account that has cross-account access to the logs. Which combination of AWS services should the administrator use?
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
Set up CloudWatch Contributor Insights rules in the central monitoring account, with cross-account log ingestion from each account's VPC Flow Logs published to CloudWatch Logs.
Option C is correct because CloudWatch Contributor Insights can analyze VPC Flow Logs to identify the top IP addresses generating traffic, and it supports cross-account log ingestion by subscribing to CloudWatch Logs from multiple accounts. This allows centralized analysis in the monitoring account without needing to copy logs to S3 or run complex queries manually.
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.
- ✗
Enable VPC Flow Logs in each account, publish them to an Amazon S3 bucket, and use Amazon Athena to query for top IPs.
Why it's wrong here
This approach can work, but Athena requires running queries manually or scheduling them, and does not provide a real-time, continuous top-contributors view. Contributor Insights offers a managed, real-time solution.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules across accounts to aggregate network traffic data and generate a report in Amazon QuickSight.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes, not network traffic. It cannot provide information about IP addresses generating traffic.
- ✓
Set up CloudWatch Contributor Insights rules in the central monitoring account, with cross-account log ingestion from each account's VPC Flow Logs published to CloudWatch Logs.
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Contributor Insights can analyze log data from CloudWatch Logs across accounts using cross-account observability. It continuously identifies top contributors like source IP addresses, providing a dashboard without manual queries.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights with a saved query in the central account and schedule it to run every hour using EventBridge.
Why it's wrong here
Logs Insights is great for ad-hoc queries, but it does not continuously run and update a top-N list by default. You would need to build a custom solution, whereas Contributor Insights is purpose-built for this.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume S3 with Athena is the simplest centralized logging solution, but they overlook that Contributor Insights provides built-in top-N analysis and native cross-account log ingestion, which is more efficient for this specific use case than manual querying.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudWatch Contributor Insights uses a rule-based engine that processes log events in real time to compute top contributors, such as source IPs, by aggregating on specified fields. It leverages CloudWatch Logs subscriptions to ingest logs from multiple accounts into a central account, where the rules are defined and evaluated, enabling near-real-time analysis without storing logs in S3. This is particularly useful for security incident response where immediate identification of high-traffic IPs is critical.
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 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
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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: Set up CloudWatch Contributor Insights rules in the central monitoring account, with cross-account log ingestion from each account's VPC Flow Logs published to CloudWatch Logs. — Option C is correct because CloudWatch Contributor Insights can analyze VPC Flow Logs to identify the top IP addresses generating traffic, and it supports cross-account log ingestion by subscribing to CloudWatch Logs from multiple accounts. This allows centralized analysis in the monitoring account without needing to copy logs to S3 or run complex queries manually.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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