Why monitoring matters in AWS - Test Your Understanding

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to start monitoring CPU usage with AWS CloudWatch.

AWS

aws cloudwatch [1] --metric-name CPUUtilization --namespace AWS/EC2

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aput-metric-alarm

Bget-metric-statistics

Clist-metrics

Ddelete-alarms

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'put-metric-alarm' instead of 'get-metric-statistics'.

The get-metric-statistics command retrieves CPU usage data from CloudWatch.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to create an alarm for high CPU usage.

AWS

aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name HighCPU --metric-name CPUUtilization --namespace AWS/EC2 --statistic Average --period 300 --threshold [1] --comparison-operator GreaterThanThreshold --evaluation-periods 2 --alarm-actions arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:NotifyMe

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A80

B50

C5

D20

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Setting threshold too low causing false alarms.

The threshold of 80 means the alarm triggers when CPU usage is above 80%.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the command to list all CloudWatch alarms.

AWS

aws cloudwatch [1]-alarms

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Aget

Bshow

Cdescribe

Dlist

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'list-alarms' which is not a valid command.

The correct command is describe-alarms to list alarms in CloudWatch.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a CloudWatch alarm that triggers when disk space is low.

AWS

aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name LowDiskSpace --metric-name [1] --namespace AWS/EC2 --statistic Average --period 300 --threshold [2] --comparison-operator LessThanThreshold --evaluation-periods 1 --alarm-actions arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:NotifyMe

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

ADiskSpaceUtilization

BCPUUtilization

C10

D90

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using CPU metric for disk space alarm.

Setting threshold too high for low disk space.

The metric DiskSpaceUtilization tracks disk usage, and a threshold of 10 means alarm triggers when disk space is below 10%.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a CloudWatch dashboard widget showing average CPU usage.

AWS

aws cloudwatch put-dashboard --dashboard-name MyDashboard --dashboard-body '{"widgets": [{"type": "metric", "x": 0, "y": 0, "width": 6, "height": 6, "properties": {"metrics": [["[1]", "[2]", "[3]"]], "period": 300, "stat": "Average"}}]}'

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AAWS/EC2

BCPUUtilization

CInstanceId

DDiskReadOps

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using wrong metric or namespace.

Missing dimension name.

The dashboard widget needs the namespace AWS/EC2, metric name CPUUtilization, and dimension InstanceId to show CPU usage per instance.

Practice

1. Why is monitoring important in AWS environments?

easy

A. It helps detect issues early to keep systems running smoothly.

B. It automatically fixes all system errors without human help.

C. It increases the cost of running AWS services.

D. It disables alarms to reduce notifications.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand monitoring purpose

   Monitoring tracks system health and performance in real time.

2. Step 2: Identify the benefit of early detection

   Early detection helps fix problems before they affect users.

3. Final Answer:

   It helps detect issues early to keep systems running smoothly. -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Monitoring = Early issue detection [OK]

Hint: Monitoring = early alerts to avoid bigger problems [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking monitoring fixes issues automatically
• Believing monitoring increases costs unnecessarily
• Assuming monitoring disables alarms

2. Which AWS service is primarily used for monitoring and setting alarms?

easy

A. Amazon CloudWatch

B. Amazon EC2

C. AWS S3

D. AWS Lambda

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify AWS monitoring services

   AWS CloudWatch collects metrics and logs for monitoring.

2. Step 2: Match service to alarms and monitoring

   CloudWatch allows setting alarms to notify on issues.

3. Final Answer:

   Amazon CloudWatch -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Monitoring + alarms = CloudWatch [OK]

Hint: CloudWatch = AWS monitoring and alarms tool [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing Lambda with monitoring service
• Thinking S3 stores monitoring data directly
• Assuming EC2 handles alarms

3. What will happen if you create a CloudWatch alarm for CPU usage > 80% and the CPU usage reaches 85%?

medium

A. The CPU usage will automatically reduce.

B. The alarm will ignore the CPU usage.

C. The alarm will trigger and notify you.

D. The alarm will delete the instance.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand CloudWatch alarm behavior

   Alarms trigger when the monitored metric crosses the threshold.

2. Step 2: Apply to CPU usage scenario

   CPU usage > 80% triggers the alarm at 85% usage.

3. Final Answer:

   The alarm will trigger and notify you. -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   CPU > threshold = alarm triggers [OK]

Hint: Alarm triggers when metric exceeds threshold [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking alarms fix issues automatically
• Believing alarms ignore threshold breaches
• Assuming alarms delete resources

4. You set a CloudWatch alarm but never receive notifications when thresholds are crossed. What is a likely cause?

medium

A. The CPU usage never exceeded the threshold.

B. The alarm is not linked to any notification action.

C. CloudWatch does not support alarms.

D. The AWS account is inactive.

Solution

1. Step 1: Check alarm configuration

   Alarms must have notification actions (like SNS) to send alerts.

2. Step 2: Identify missing notification setup

   If no notification is linked, no alerts are sent despite threshold breaches.

3. Final Answer:

   The alarm is not linked to any notification action. -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Missing notification = no alerts [OK]

Hint: Link alarms to notifications to get alerts [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming alarms send notifications automatically
• Ignoring notification setup in alarm
• Thinking CloudWatch lacks alarm support

5. You want to keep your AWS app reliable by monitoring multiple metrics and sending alerts only when several conditions happen together. Which approach should you use?

hard

A. Create multiple independent CloudWatch alarms without combining them.

B. Disable alarms to reduce noise.

C. Rely on manual checks instead of alarms.

D. Use CloudWatch composite alarms to combine multiple alarms into one alert.

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand composite alarms

   Composite alarms combine multiple alarms using logical conditions.

2. Step 2: Apply composite alarms for multi-condition alerts

   This lets you alert only when all or some conditions happen together.

3. Final Answer:

   Use CloudWatch composite alarms to combine multiple alarms into one alert. -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Multi-condition alert = composite alarms [OK]

Hint: Use composite alarms for combined conditions [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Creating separate alarms without combination
• Ignoring composite alarms feature
• Disabling alarms to avoid alerts