Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A SysOps administrator needs to monitor memory utilization of an Amazon EC2 instance. The default Amazon CloudWatch metrics for EC2 do not include memory utilization. Which solution should the administrator implement to collect memory metrics and set alarms?
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
Best answer
Install the CloudWatch agent on the instance and configure it to collect memory metrics
The CloudWatch agent can capture OS-level metrics (memory, disk, etc.) and send them to CloudWatch, allowing alarms to be created.
B
Distractor review
Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance
Detailed monitoring increases the frequency of default EC2 metrics but does not add memory utilization as a metric.
C
Distractor review
Use AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager to report memory usage
Patch Manager is used for patching operating systems, not for collecting and reporting metric data.
D
Distractor review
Use AWS CloudTrail to log memory events
CloudTrail records API calls within AWS, not OS-level events like memory usage.
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: Install the CloudWatch agent on the instance and configure it to collect memory metrics — The standard EC2 metrics include CPU, disk, and network, but not memory. To collect memory utilization, the CloudWatch agent must be installed on the instance. The agent collects custom metrics (including memory and disk) from the OS and sends them to CloudWatch, where alarms can be configured. Enabling detailed monitoring only increases the frequency of existing metrics (like CPU) but does not add memory. Systems Manager Patch Manager is for patching, not metrics. CloudTrail logs API activity, not OS-level metrics.
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.
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.