SOA-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✓

  Set up an SNS topic, then create the alarm selecting the CPU utilization metric, then define the condition (CPU > 90%), then add the notification action with the SNS topic.

  Why this is correct

  This sequence is correct because the SNS topic must exist before it can be referenced as an alarm action; CloudFormation or the console will reject an action that points to a non-existent ARN. Creating the alarm with the CPU utilization metric and then defining the threshold (CPU > 90%) establishes the evaluation criteria that triggers the alarm. Only after the alarm and its condition are fully defined can you attach the SNS topic as the notification action, ensuring the alarm knows what to monitor and when to fire before it can send messages.

• ✗

  Create the alarm selecting the CPU utilization metric, then set up an SNS topic, then define the condition (CPU > 90%), then add the notification action with the SNS topic.

  Why it's wrong here

  This order is invalid because you attempt to create an alarm that references an SNS topic that has not yet been created, which will cause an error during alarm creation. The SNS topic must be provisioned first so its ARN is available to assign to the alarm's notification action. Additionally, the condition (CPU > 90%) should be part of the initial alarm definition because the alarm's state changes are based on comparing the metric against that threshold; deferring the condition until after topic creation breaks the logical dependency between metric, threshold, and action.

• ✗

  Set up an SNS topic, then add the notification action with the SNS topic, then create the alarm selecting the CPU utilization metric, then define the condition (CPU > 90%).

  Why it's wrong here

  This order is incorrect because you try to add a notification action to an alarm that does not yet exist — the SNS topic cannot be attached to anything until you have created the alarm and defined its metric and condition. Even if the alarm creation later picks up the SNS topic, the action step must come after the alarm is fully defined, not before. The console workflow requires the alarm to exist with a valid metric and threshold before you can configure the notification action, otherwise the action has no target alarm to apply to.

• ✗

  Create the alarm selecting the CPU utilization metric, then define the condition (CPU > 90%), then set up an SNS topic, then add the notification action with the SNS topic.

  Why it's wrong here

  This order is flawed because although the metric and condition are defined together, you postpone creating the SNS topic until after the alarm is already configured; an alarm cannot reference a notification ARN that does not yet exist. The console will not let you complete the alarm creation if you specify an SNS topic that has not been created, so the topic must be set up before you attempt to attach it as an action. Furthermore, the correct sequence bundles the metric selection and threshold definition as part of the initial alarm setup, then adds the notification as the final step once all dependencies are available.

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