CV0-004 Operations and Support Practice Question
A cloud administrator needs to monitor CPU utilization of a group of virtual machines and automatically add more instances when utilization exceeds 80% for 5 minutes. Which cloud service should the administrator use to define this scaling policy?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is selecting a monitoring or systems management service because it 'watches' metrics, when the question requires a service that actually acts on those metrics to change capacity.
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
✓
Auto scaling service
An auto scaling service is purpose-built to define scaling policies based on metrics such as CPU utilization, with thresholds and duration windows (e.g., >80% for 5 minutes) that trigger adding or removing instances. It integrates with CloudWatch-style alarms and launch templates to automatically adjust capacity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configuration management service
Why it's wrong here
Configuration management enforces and remediates the desired state of existing resources; it does not evaluate CPU metrics or add instances. It is tempting because it also automates infrastructure, but the scenario requires an autoscaling service that reads utilisation and adjusts capacity when the threshold is breached.
- ✗
Audit logging service
Why it's wrong here
Audit logging records API activity for compliance and forensics; it neither evaluates metric thresholds nor triggers capacity changes. It is tempting because it also consumes monitoring data, but the scaling policy needs an autoscaling service that reads CPU metrics and adds instances when the 80%/5-minute condition is met.
- ✓
Auto scaling service
Why this is correct
Auto scaling service continuously evaluates metrics such as CPU utilisation against thresholds you define, then adds instances when the 80%-for-5-minutes condition is met. It satisfies the stem's requirement for automatic horizontal scaling driven by monitored performance data, unlike monitoring-only or load-balancing services.
- ✗
Systems management service
Why it's wrong here
Systems management covers patching, inventory and operational health of hosts, not metric-driven capacity changes. It is tempting because it also surfaces performance data, but defining a scaling policy that adds instances when CPU exceeds 80% for five minutes requires an autoscaling service.
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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.