SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Which TWO actions can a SysOps administrator take to improve the availability of a web application using an Application Load Balancer (ALB) and EC2 instances? (Choose two.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure health checks on the target group
Options B and C are correct: Deploying EC2 instances in multiple Availability Zones provides high availability, and configuring health checks allows the ALB to route traffic only to healthy instances. Option A is wrong because using a larger instance type improves performance, not availability. Option D is wrong because a single subnet is a single point of failure. Option E is wrong because increasing the deregistration delay does not improve availability; it only affects connection draining.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Place all instances in a single subnet to reduce latency
Why it's wrong here
A single subnet is a single point of failure.
✓
Configure health checks on the target group
Why this is correct
Health checks allow the ALB to stop sending traffic to unhealthy instances.
Larger instances improve capacity, not availability.
✗
Increase the deregistration delay (connection draining) timeout
Why it's wrong here
This helps complete in-flight requests, not improve availability.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SOA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Networking and Content Delivery — This question tests Networking and Content Delivery — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure health checks on the target group — Options B and C are correct: Deploying EC2 instances in multiple Availability Zones provides high availability, and configuring health checks allows the ALB to route traffic only to healthy instances. Option A is wrong because using a larger instance type improves performance, not availability. Option D is wrong because a single subnet is a single point of failure. Option E is wrong because increasing the deregistration delay does not improve availability; it only affects connection draining.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related SOA-C02 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Question Discussion
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