CV0-004 Operations and Support Practice Question
A cloud administrator needs to detect unusual spikes in CPU usage across a fleet of EC2 instances. Which AWS service should be used to create an alarm that triggers when CPU utilization exceeds an expected baseline?
⚠ Common exam trap
CV0-004 often tests whether candidates pick a monitoring-adjacent service like CloudTrail or Config for metric-based alerting, confusing activity logging with performance monitoring.
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
✓
AWS CloudWatch Alarms with anomaly detection
Amazon CloudWatch Alarms supports anomaly detection bands, which use machine learning to establish a normal baseline for a metric such as CPUUtilization and then alarm when the metric falls outside the expected band. This is the correct service for detecting unusual spikes relative to a learned baseline across a fleet of EC2 instances.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration changes and evaluates compliance rules; it does not ingest CPU metrics or raise threshold alarms. It is tempting as a monitoring-adjacent governance service, but CloudWatch, with metric alarms on the CPUUtilization metric, is what detects utilisation spikes.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API activity and account events for auditing; it captures no performance telemetry such as CPU utilisation, so no alarm can be built on it. It is tempting because it is a visibility service, but CloudWatch metrics and alarms are what detect utilisation spikes.
- ✓
AWS CloudWatch Alarms with anomaly detection
Why this is correct
CloudWatch anomaly detection builds a learned baseline from historical CPU patterns and alarms on deviations, catching unusual spikes rather than fixed thresholds. Static thresholds would either miss subtle spikes or fire constantly on normal variation.
- ✗
AWS Systems Manager
Why it's wrong here
Systems Manager handles patching, run commands and inventory across instances; it neither collects CPU metrics nor evaluates thresholds. It is tempting as a fleet-management tool, but CloudWatch, which aggregates the CPUUtilization metric and fires alarms, is what detects utilisation spikes.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CV0-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CV0-004 exam.