AWS 10.2 amazon cloudFront

Question 1

Why is Amazon CloudWatch essential for managing AWS resources, and what key problem does it solve?

Answer 1

It provides visibility into AWS resources and applications by collecting metrics in real time. It helps answer: • When to scale (e.g., launch EC2) • If performance/availability is degrading • How resources are being used

Question 2

What are CloudWatch metrics, and give examples of how they are used in practice?

Answer 2

Metrics are measurable variables for resources and applications. Examples: • EC2 CPU utilisation • Load balancer latency • SQS queue length • Billing metrics Used to monitor performance and trigger actions.

Question 3

Explain how CloudWatch alarms work, including thresholds and evaluation.

Answer 3

• Alarm monitors a metric • A threshold is defined (e.g., CPU > 80%) • Evaluated over a time period (evaluation periods) • Triggered when condition is met for required data points Supports: • Static thresholds • Anomaly detection • Metric math expressions

Question 4

What actions can CloudWatch alarms trigger, and why is this important for system reliability?

Answer 4

Actions include: • Sending notifications (SNS) • Triggering Auto Scaling • Executing automated responses This enables automatic reaction to issues, improving reliability and reducing downtime.

Question 5

Explain the difference between CloudWatch metrics, alarms, and events, and how they work together.

Answer 5

• Metrics → raw performance data • Alarms → evaluate metrics against conditions • Events → detect changes in AWS environment and trigger workflows Events can route actions to: • Lambda • SNS • SQS • ECS • Step Functions Together they enable monitoring → detection → automated response pipeline.