SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
A SysOps administrator needs to monitor the memory utilization of an EC2 instance running Windows Server. Which steps are required to collect memory metrics?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume memory metrics are automatically available or can be enabled via a simple console toggle, when in fact they require the CloudWatch agent to be installed and configured on the instance.
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
✓
Install and configure the Amazon CloudWatch agent on the instance.
Amazon CloudWatch does not collect memory metrics from EC2 instances by default; it only captures hypervisor-level metrics such as CPU, network, and disk I/O. To monitor in-guest memory utilization on a Windows Server instance, you must install and configure the Amazon CloudWatch agent, which sends custom metrics (e.g., Memory % Committed Bytes In Use) to CloudWatch. The agent uses the Windows Performance Monitor (PerfMon) counters to gather this data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Install and configure the Amazon CloudWatch agent on the instance.
Why this is correct
The CloudWatch agent can collect memory and disk metrics.
- ✗
Install the AWS Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) and use Run Command.
Why it's wrong here
SSM Agent can run scripts but does not directly send memory metrics to CloudWatch.
- ✗
Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance.
Why it's wrong here
Detailed monitoring provides more frequent CPU metrics, not memory.
- ✗
Use the AWS Management Console to enable memory monitoring.
Why it's wrong here
There is no option to enable memory monitoring in the console.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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