- A
Review the ALB's DNS resolution for the target instances.
Why wrong: DNS is not used for internal ALB-to-instance communication.
- B
Verify that the EC2 instances' security groups allow traffic from the ALB.
Security group misconfiguration can block health checks.
- C
Increase the size of the Auto Scaling group to distribute load.
Why wrong: Scaling does not fix health check issues.
- D
Check the health check settings on the target group for correct path and interval.
Incorrect health check settings cause false failures.
- E
Inspect the application logs on the EC2 instances for errors.
Application errors can cause health check failures.
Question 1,437 of 1,546
SOA-C02 Reliability and Business Continuity Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of reliability and business continuity. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is troubleshooting a high error rate on an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The ALB is configured with two target groups: one for EC2 instances and one for Lambda functions. The administrator notices that the EC2 target group is unhealthy. Which THREE steps should the administrator take to resolve the issue?
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
✓
Verify that the EC2 instances' security groups allow traffic from the ALB.
Option B is correct because the ALB communicates with EC2 instances using the private IP addresses of the instances. If the EC2 instances' security groups do not explicitly allow inbound traffic from the ALB's security group (or the ALB's VPC CIDR), the health checks and actual traffic will be blocked, causing the target group to be marked unhealthy. This is a common misconfiguration when the ALB and instances are in the same VPC.
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.
- ✗
Review the ALB's DNS resolution for the target instances.
Why it's wrong here
DNS is not used for internal ALB-to-instance communication.
- ✓
Verify that the EC2 instances' security groups allow traffic from the ALB.
Why this is correct
Security group misconfiguration can block health checks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Increase the size of the Auto Scaling group to distribute load.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling does not fix health check issues.
- ✓
Check the health check settings on the target group for correct path and interval.
Why this is correct
Incorrect health check settings cause false failures.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Inspect the application logs on the EC2 instances for errors.
Why this is correct
Application errors can cause health check failures.
Related concept
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 often focus on scaling or DNS issues (Options A and C) instead of recognizing that the most common cause of an unhealthy target group is either a security group misconfiguration or an incorrect health check path, both of which are directly addressed by Options B and D.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The ALB performs health checks by sending requests to the configured health check path (e.g., /health) on the target instances. If the security group on the EC2 instance does not allow inbound traffic from the ALB's security group (or the VPC CIDR) on the health check port, the ALB receives no response and marks the instance unhealthy. Additionally, the health check interval (default 30 seconds) and threshold settings (default 5 consecutive failures) determine how quickly an unhealthy instance is detected. Inspecting application logs (Option E) is crucial because even if the security group allows traffic, the application itself may be returning 5xx errors due to code bugs or resource exhaustion, causing the health check to fail.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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.
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Reliability and Business Continuity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Reliability and Business Continuity — This question tests Reliability and Business Continuity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Verify that the EC2 instances' security groups allow traffic from the ALB. — Option B is correct because the ALB communicates with EC2 instances using the private IP addresses of the instances. If the EC2 instances' security groups do not explicitly allow inbound traffic from the ALB's security group (or the ALB's VPC CIDR), the health checks and actual traffic will be blocked, causing the target group to be marked unhealthy. This is a common misconfiguration when the ALB and instances are in the same VPC.
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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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