The correct metrics are HealthyHostCount and RequestCount, both measured per TargetGroup. HealthyHostCount reports the number of healthy EC2 instances in a specific target group, directly reflecting the health of the Auto Scaling group behind the Application Load Balancer, while RequestCount tracks the volume of traffic routed to that target group, enabling correlation between load and backend capacity. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this pairing tests your understanding of how CloudWatch metrics map to ALB components—a common trap is confusing HostCount (total hosts) with HealthyHostCount, or using metrics at the Load Balancer level instead of per TargetGroup. Remember that target group metrics are essential when monitoring an Auto Scaling group because they isolate health and traffic to the specific backend fleet. A useful memory tip: think “Healthy Hosts + Request Count = Full Picture” for any ALB-backed application dashboard.
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 setting up a CloudWatch dashboard to monitor an application. The application runs on an Auto Scaling group of EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The administrator wants to track the number of healthy hosts and the request count per target group. Which two metrics should be used? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
HealthyHostCount (per TargetGroup)
Option A is correct because `HealthyHostCount` (per TargetGroup) is a CloudWatch metric that reports the number of healthy EC2 instances in a specific target group, which directly indicates the health of the backend fleet. Option D is correct because `RequestCount` (per TargetGroup) tracks the number of requests routed to that target group, allowing the administrator to correlate traffic load with host health. Together, these two metrics provide the exact visibility needed for an Auto Scaling group behind an ALB.
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.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
HealthyHostCount (per ALB)
Why it's wrong here
This metric is available at the ALB level, but for per-target-group monitoring, use the target group dimension.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse ALB-level metrics (like `RequestCount` per ALB or `ActiveConnectionCount`) with target-group-level metrics, or assume `HealthyHostCount` exists at the ALB level, when in fact it is only available per target group.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the ALB emits `HealthyHostCount` and `RequestCount` per target group every 60 seconds by default, with `HealthyHostCount` derived from the health check results (e.g., HTTP 200 responses) sent to each registered instance. In a real-world scenario, if `HealthyHostCount` drops while `RequestCount` remains high, the administrator can trigger an Auto Scaling policy to add instances, preventing overload. Note that `HealthyHostCount` counts only instances that pass the health check, not those in a draining state.
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: HealthyHostCount (per TargetGroup) — Option A is correct because `HealthyHostCount` (per TargetGroup) is a CloudWatch metric that reports the number of healthy EC2 instances in a specific target group, which directly indicates the health of the backend fleet. Option D is correct because `RequestCount` (per TargetGroup) tracks the number of requests routed to that target group, allowing the administrator to correlate traffic load with host health. Together, these two metrics provide the exact visibility needed for an Auto Scaling group behind an ALB.
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.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A SysOps administrator manages an Application Load Balancer (ALB) that distributes traffic to an Auto Scaling group of EC2 instances. The administrator needs to receive a notification whenever the number of unhealthy targets in the ALB target group exceeds a threshold of 2 for at least 5 consecutive minutes. Which solution meets this requirement with the least operational overhead?
easy
✓ A.Create a CloudWatch alarm on the 'UnHealthyHostCount' metric for the ALB target group, with a threshold of 2 and an evaluation period of 5 minutes. Configure the alarm to send an Amazon SNS notification.
B.Enable AWS CloudTrail logging for the ALB and create a CloudWatch metric filter for 'UnHealthyHostCount' events. Then create an alarm on that metric to notify via SNS.
C.Use an AWS Config rule to evaluate the health of the ALB target group and trigger an SNS notification when non-compliant.
D.Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that triggers every minute to call the AWS CLI command describe-target-health and send a notification via Lambda if unhealthy count exceeds 2.
Why A: Option A is correct because CloudWatch natively publishes the 'UnHealthyHostCount' metric for ALB target groups, allowing a direct alarm with a threshold of 2 and an evaluation period of 5 minutes. This alarm can trigger an SNS notification with minimal configuration, requiring no custom scripts or additional services. The requirement for 'at least 5 consecutive minutes' is satisfied by setting the evaluation period to 5 minutes (or using 5 datapoints with a 1-minute period).
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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This SOA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SOA-C02 exam.
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