easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CV0-004 Practice Question: A cloud administrator notices that a virtual…
A cloud administrator notices that a virtual machine (VM) hosting a web application is consistently running at 95% CPU utilization during business hours. End users complain that the application is slow. The application is stateless and can scale horizontally. The VM is part of an auto-scaling group configured with a target tracking scaling policy based on average CPU utilization. The administrator checks CloudWatch metrics and sees that the CPU utilization has been above the target of 70% for the last two hours, but no new instances have been launched. What should the administrator do FIRST to resolve the issue?
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
✓
Verify that the CloudWatch agent is sending CPU metrics and that the metric names match the scaling policy configuration.
The auto-scaling policy is configured to scale based on average CPU utilization, but it has not triggered despite sustained high CPU. Since the application is stateless and can scale horizontally, the issue is likely that the scaling policy is not receiving the correct metrics. The first step should be to verify that the CloudWatch agent is properly sending CPU metrics and that the metric names and dimensions match the scaling policy configuration. Without accurate metrics, auto-scaling cannot make scaling decisions. Option A is correct because it addresses the root cause—missing or mismatched metrics. Options B, C, and D are premature actions that do not diagnose the underlying issue; manually scaling, changing thresholds, or resizing the instance may temporarily help but do not fix the core problem.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Verify that the CloudWatch agent is sending CPU metrics and that the metric names match the scaling policy configuration.
Why this is correct
If metrics are missing or misconfigured, auto-scaling cannot trigger. This is the most direct diagnostic step.
- ✗
Manually increase the desired capacity of the auto-scaling group.
Why it's wrong here
While this could temporarily help, it does not address the underlying auto-scaling failure and is not the first diagnostic step.
- ✗
Reduce the target tracking value to 50% so scaling happens sooner.
Why it's wrong here
Lowering the target may cause even more aggressive scaling but does not fix the fundamental issue of metrics not triggering.
- ✗
Replace the instance with a larger instance type that has more vCPUs.
Why it's wrong here
This addresses the symptom but not the root cause; also, horizontal scaling is preferred for stateless apps.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.