Why monitoring matters in AWS - Visual Breakdown

Process Flow - Why monitoring matters

Start Application

↓

Generate Logs & Metrics

↓

Monitoring System Collects Data

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Analyze Data for Issues

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No Issue

↓

Continue

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Fix Issue

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Back to Start

This flow shows how monitoring collects data from an application, analyzes it, and triggers alerts if issues are found, helping keep systems healthy.

Execution Sample

AWS

aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm --alarm-name HighCPU --metric-name CPUUtilization --namespace AWS/EC2 --statistic Average --period 300 --threshold 80 --comparison-operator GreaterThanThreshold --evaluation-periods 2 --alarm-actions arn:aws:sns:region:account-id:alert-topic --dimensions Name=InstanceId,Value=i-1234567890abcdef0

This command creates a CloudWatch alarm that watches CPU usage and alerts if it goes above 80% for two periods.

Process Table

Step	Action	Input/Condition	Result/Output	Next Step
1	Start monitoring setup	Define alarm parameters	Alarm configuration created	2
2	Collect metrics	CPU usage data every 5 minutes	Metrics stored in CloudWatch	3
3	Evaluate alarm condition	Is average CPU > 80% for 2 periods?	No (e.g., 60%, 70%)	4
4	No alert triggered	System healthy	Continue monitoring	2
5	Evaluate alarm condition	Is average CPU > 80% for 2 periods?	Yes (e.g., 85%, 90%)	6
6	Trigger alert	Send notification to SNS topic	Team alerted	7
7	Team investigates	Check logs and metrics	Issue identified and fixed	8
8	Issue resolved	CPU usage returns to normal	Alarm state clears	2

💡 Monitoring continues indefinitely to keep system healthy and alert on issues.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 3	After Step 5	After Step 8
CPU Utilization (%)	N/A	60, 70	85, 90	50, 55
Alarm State	OK	OK	ALARM	OK
Alert Sent	No	No	Yes	No

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why doesn't the alarm trigger if CPU usage is below 80% even once?

The alarm triggers only if CPU usage is above 80% for two consecutive periods, as shown in steps 3 and 5 in the execution table.

What happens after the alert is sent to the team?

After alerting (step 6), the team investigates and fixes the issue (step 7), then the alarm clears when CPU usage normalizes (step 8).

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, what is the alarm state after step 3?

A INSUFFICIENT_DATA

B ALARM

C OK

D UNKNOWN

💡 Hint

Check the 'Alarm State' in variable_tracker after step 3.

At which step does the system send an alert notification?

A Step 6

B Step 4

C Step 5

D Step 7

💡 Hint

Look for 'Trigger alert' action in the execution_table.

If CPU usage never exceeds 80%, what happens to the alarm state over time?

A It changes to ALARM

B It stays OK

C It becomes INSUFFICIENT_DATA

D It resets to UNKNOWN

💡 Hint

Refer to variable_tracker showing alarm state when CPU is below threshold.

Concept Snapshot

Monitoring collects data like CPU usage continuously.
Alarms watch for thresholds (e.g., CPU > 80%).
Alerts notify teams only if conditions persist.
Fixing issues resets alarms.
Continuous monitoring keeps systems healthy.

Full Transcript

Monitoring is important because it watches your system's health by collecting data like CPU usage. When usage goes above a set limit for a certain time, it triggers an alarm. This alarm sends alerts to the team so they can fix problems quickly. Once fixed, the alarm clears and monitoring continues. This cycle helps keep applications running smoothly and avoids surprises.