The correct answer is a CloudWatch alarm on the CPUUtilization metric with an SNS notification. This works because CloudWatch alarms evaluate a metric—in this case, average CPU utilization—over a specified period, such as five minutes, and trigger an action when the threshold of 90% is breached. The alarm then publishes to an SNS topic, which delivers the email alert to all subscribed endpoints, directly fulfilling the requirement for automated notification. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to pair metric-based monitoring with event-driven responses, a core skill for operational health. A common trap is confusing CloudWatch Logs or EventBridge rules for metric thresholds, but remember: alarms evaluate numeric data, not log text. Memory tip: “Alarm + SNS = Email on metric stress.”
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 wants to receive an email when the average CPU utilization of an EC2 instance exceeds 90% for 5 minutes. What should the administrator create?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A CloudWatch alarm on the CPUUtilization metric with an SNS notification.
Option D is correct because a CloudWatch alarm on the CPUUtilization metric can be configured to evaluate the average CPU usage over a 5-minute period and trigger an action when it exceeds 90%. The alarm can send a notification via Amazon SNS, which can deliver an email to subscribed endpoints. This directly meets the requirement for email notification based on a sustained metric threshold.
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.
✗
A CloudWatch Logs metric filter on the instance logs.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse CloudWatch Logs metric filters (which require log data) with CloudWatch metrics (which are numeric time-series data), or think AWS Config can monitor performance metrics instead of configuration compliance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudWatch alarms evaluate metric streams over a specified period (e.g., 5 minutes) using a statistic like Average, and can transition through states (OK, ALARM, INSUFFICIENT_DATA). The alarm action can invoke an SNS topic, which delivers email to subscribed addresses via SMTP; the SNS topic must be configured with an email subscription that requires confirmation. In a real-world scenario, you might also set up an Auto Scaling policy or a Lambda function as the alarm action for automated remediation.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: A CloudWatch alarm on the CPUUtilization metric with an SNS notification. — Option D is correct because a CloudWatch alarm on the CPUUtilization metric can be configured to evaluate the average CPU usage over a 5-minute period and trigger an action when it exceeds 90%. The alarm can send a notification via Amazon SNS, which can deliver an email to subscribed endpoints. This directly meets the requirement for email notification based on a sustained metric threshold.
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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Question Discussion
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