AWS CloudWatch Overview

These flashcards cover key concepts, components, and functionalities of AWS CloudWatch, providing a comprehensive overview for exam preparation.

What is Amazon CloudWatch?

A monitoring and observability service designed to collect, store, and process operational data from AWS resources, on-premises systems, and custom applications.

What are Core Components of CloudWatch?

Metrics, Logs, and Events.

What does a metric represent in CloudWatch?

A time-ordered set of data points representing the performance of a given resource.

How are CloudWatch metrics organized?

Using namespaces, which logically group metrics for services.

What is required to push custom metrics on non-AWS resources?

You need to install the CloudWatch Agent.

What do CloudWatch Logs allow you to do?

Collect, monitor, and store log files from AWS services, on-premises servers, or applications.

What is the role of CloudWatch Events?

They allow you to trigger actions based on specific events or schedule recurring actions.

What are the steps involved in how CloudWatch works?

Data Collection, Storage & Processing, Analysis, and Alarms.

What happens when a CloudWatch Alarm crosses a threshold?

It enters the ALARM state.

What actions can CloudWatch Alarms trigger?

Notifying users via Amazon SNS, auto-scaling resources, or initiating remediation with Lambda functions.

What is a Datapoint in CloudWatch?

A timestamped value of a metric.

What are Dimensions in the context of CloudWatch metrics?

Key-value pairs that help identify a specific metric's source.

What is the purpose of CloudWatch?

To provide a comprehensive way to monitor resources, track performance, and react to system events in near real-time.