hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CV0-004 Practice Question: Your organization operates a three-tier web…
Your organization operates a three-tier web application hosted on a public cloud platform. The application tier consists of an auto-scaling group of virtual machines running a custom web service. The database tier is a managed MySQL service. Recently, users have reported slow response times during business hours, especially when the application performs write operations. Reviewing the monitoring dashboards shows that the CPU utilization on the application instances averages 80% and the database connection pool is consistently maxed out at 200 connections. The auto-scaling group is configured to add instances when CPU exceeds 70% for 5 minutes, but scaling events are not triggering as expected. The application team has confirmed that there are no code changes in the last week. You check the CloudWatch alarms and see no metric alarms for CPU. What is the MOST likely reason the auto-scaling group is not scaling out?
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
✓
The CPU metric alarm that triggers the scaling policy has been deleted or never configured
The auto-scaling group relies on a metric alarm (e.g., CPU utilization) to trigger the scaling policy. Without any CloudWatch alarm for CPU, the scaling policy has no trigger, so scaling out never occurs. Option A is incorrect because the group may not have reached its maximum count; the issue is the lack of a trigger. Option C is incorrect because the cooldown period only delays scaling after a scaling activity has been triggered, but no scaling event is occurring. Option D is incorrect because health checks affect instance replacement, not scaling based on load.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The auto-scaling group has reached the maximum instance count
Why it's wrong here
If max is reached, scaling out would fail, but alarm would still show as breaching.
- ✓
The CPU metric alarm that triggers the scaling policy has been deleted or never configured
Why this is correct
Auto-scaling policies require a metric alarm to trigger; missing alarm means no scaling.
- ✗
The auto-scaling group has a default cooldown period that is too long
Why it's wrong here
Cooldown only applies after a policy is executed, but no action is taken.
- ✗
The application instances are not responding to health checks
Why it's wrong here
Health checks affect replacement of unhealthy instances, not scaling based on CPU.
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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.