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Networking and Content Delivery →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question

This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. Examine the command output carefully: the correct answer depends on what the output actually shows, not on general recall alone. 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 company has an application running on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. Users report intermittent timeout errors. The ALB target group shows healthy instances, and CloudWatch metrics show no spikes in CPU or memory. Which configuration is most likely causing the timeouts?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
Connection draining is set too low
Why wrong: Connection draining applies only when instances are deregistering, not during normal operation.
B
The ALB idle timeout is set too low
A low idle timeout can cause the ALB to close connections before the application responds, leading to timeouts.
C
The target group health check interval is too long
Why wrong: Health check interval affects detection of unhealthy instances, not response timeouts.
D
Cross-zone load balancing is disabled
Why wrong: Disabling cross-zone load balancing may cause uneven traffic distribution but not timeouts.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

The ALB idle timeout is set too low

Option B is correct because the ALB idle timeout determines how long the load balancer waits for data from the application before closing the connection. If the idle timeout is set too low and the application takes longer to respond (e.g., due to long-running queries or processing), the load balancer terminates the connection, causing intermittent timeout errors. Option A is incorrect because connection draining only applies when a target is deregistering, allowing in-flight requests to complete; it does not affect active connections to healthy instances. Option C is incorrect: a longer health check interval delays detection of unhealthy instances, but the target group shows all instances as healthy, so health checks are not the cause. Option D is incorrect because cross-zone load balancing only affects how traffic is distributed across Availability Zones; disabling it may lead to uneven load but does not directly cause timeouts.

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.

✗
Connection draining is set too low
Why it's wrong here
Connection draining applies only when instances are deregistering, not during normal operation.
✓
The ALB idle timeout is set too low
Why this is correct
A low idle timeout can cause the ALB to close connections before the application responds, leading to timeouts.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The target group health check interval is too long
Why it's wrong here
Health check interval affects detection of unhealthy instances, not response timeouts.
✗
Cross-zone load balancing is disabled
Why it's wrong here
Disabling cross-zone load balancing may cause uneven traffic distribution but not timeouts.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

Underline the problem statement mentally.
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

An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SOA-C02 question test?

Networking and Content Delivery — This question tests Networking and Content Delivery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The ALB idle timeout is set too low — Option B is correct because the ALB idle timeout determines how long the load balancer waits for data from the application before closing the connection. If the idle timeout is set too low and the application takes longer to respond (e.g., due to long-running queries or processing), the load balancer terminates the connection, causing intermittent timeout errors. Option A is incorrect because connection draining only applies when a target is deregistering, allowing in-flight requests to complete; it does not affect active connections to healthy instances. Option C is incorrect: a longer health check interval delays detection of unhealthy instances, but the target group shows all instances as healthy, so health checks are not the cause. Option D is incorrect because cross-zone load balancing only affects how traffic is distributed across Availability Zones; disabling it may lead to uneven load but does not directly cause timeouts.

What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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