Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A SysOps administrator manages an Amazon RDS for MySQL instance that handles a critical web application. During peak traffic, the number of database connections exceeds 500 for more than 15 minutes, leading to connection timeouts. The administrator wants to automatically increase the DB instance size when the connection count remains high, and decrease it when the load drops, to balance performance and cost. Which combination of AWS services should be used to achieve this automation with the least operational overhead?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
Configure a CloudWatch alarm on DatabaseConnections that triggers an Amazon CloudWatch Events rule, which directly modifies the DB instance class using a CloudFormation custom resource.
CloudWatch Events can trigger targets but cannot directly modify RDS instance classes. A Lambda function is needed to call the RDS API. This option is overly complex and not natively supported.
B
Distractor review
Use an AWS Config rule to monitor DatabaseConnections and invoke an AWS Lambda function to scale the RDS instance when the threshold is breached.
AWS Config is designed for resource compliance and configuration history, not for real-time metric-based monitoring and scaling. It cannot directly evaluate CloudWatch metrics.
C
Best answer
Set up an Amazon CloudWatch alarm on the DatabaseConnections metric that triggers an AWS Lambda function to modify the DB instance class via the RDS API.
This is the correct approach. CloudWatch alarms can invoke Lambda actions. Lambda can use the RDS API (ModifyDBInstance) to change the instance class. This provides automated, event-driven scaling with minimal overhead.
D
Distractor review
Use an AWS Systems Manager Automation runbook to periodically check the DatabaseConnections metric and adjust the RDS instance class if needed.
While Systems Manager Automation can perform actions, it requires a scheduled execution or manual trigger, making it less responsive than a CloudWatch alarm. It also adds complexity for a real-time scaling requirement.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Related practice questions
Related SOA-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A company uses Amazon CloudFront to deliver content to a global audience. The origin is an Application Load Balancer in us-east-1. The SysOps administrator wants to reduce costs by minimizing the number of requests that reach the origin server. Which action should the administrator take?
Question 2
A company runs a batch processing application on Amazon EC2 that runs for 2 hours every night. The workload can tolerate interruptions. Which EC2 purchasing option provides the lowest cost for this use case?
Question 3
A SysOps administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an Amazon RDS DB instance and receive an alarm when CPU utilization exceeds 80% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used to create this alarm?
Question 4
A company runs a critical web application on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application uses session stickiness (sticky sessions) to maintain user sessions. The SysOps administrator notices that when instances are replaced during a scale-in or failure event, users lose their session data. The administrator needs to preserve session data across instance failures without losing stickiness benefits. What should the administrator do?
Question 5
A company runs a production web application on a single Amazon EC2 instance. The application experiences a predictable and steady workload 24/7. The SysOps administrator wants to minimize compute costs for this instance while ensuring it remains available during the expected workload. Which EC2 purchasing option should the administrator use?
Question 6
A company has a VPC with public and private subnets. The private subnets host application servers that need to make outbound HTTPS connections to the internet. The SysOps administrator must implement a solution that provides outbound internet connectivity while preventing inbound connections from the internet. Additionally, the solution must allow the company to control which domains the application servers can access. Which solution should the administrator implement?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set up an Amazon CloudWatch alarm on the DatabaseConnections metric that triggers an AWS Lambda function to modify the DB instance class via the RDS API. — The correct solution is to use Amazon CloudWatch to monitor the DatabaseConnections metric. A CloudWatch alarm triggers an AWS Lambda function when the metric exceeds the threshold. The Lambda function calls the RDS API to modify the DB instance class, scaling up or down as needed. This approach minimizes operational overhead by using native AWS services and avoids manual intervention. Option A is incorrect because CloudWatch Events cannot directly change RDS instance sizes; it can only trigger targets like Lambda. Option B is incorrect because AWS Config is for compliance and does not handle real-time scaling. Option C is incorrect because Systems Manager Automation Runbooks can modify RDS instances, but that requires more configuration and is less event-driven than the CloudWatch-Lambda combination.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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