Which AWS Service Traces End-to-End Requests Across Microservices on EC2?
A developer is building various microservices for an application that will run on Amazon EC2 instances. The developer needs to monitor the end-to-end view of the requests between the microservices and debug any issues in the various microservices. What should the developer do to accomplish these tasks?
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer C. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Community Insight
The exam tests whether you know that tracing a single request across multiple services requires code instrumentation with the X-Ray SDK — the common trap is picking CloudWatch, which aggregates logs and metrics but cannot follow individual requests between microservices.
AWS X-Ray is the purpose-built service for distributed tracing, and instrumenting microservices with the X-Ray SDK plus the X-Ray service map delivers the end-to-end request view and debugging needed here. The community votes 100% for answer C, confirming X-Ray as the go-to tool for tracing requests across microservices.
Choosing A (CloudWatch) because it aggregates logs and metrics and builds dashboards; however, CloudWatch shows aggregate health, not the path of an individual request through each microservice, which is exactly what X-Ray segments, traces, and the service map provide.
Community Discussion (4 comments)
Comments & Corrections
No comments yet — spotted an error or have a note? Share it below.
Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
AWS X-Ray is purpose-built for distributed tracing of applications composed of multiple services. The X-Ray SDK instruments incoming and outgoing requests, generating segments and subsegments that are assembled into end-to-end traces. The X-Ray service map visually renders the microservices architecture, showing latency, errors, and faults at every node and edge, which directly satisfies both requirements: an end-to-end view of requests between microservices and the ability to debug issues in each service. Community comments unanimously support C, with the top comment noting that X-Ray's service map helps pinpoint bottlenecks in distributed applications running on EC2.Why the Other Options Are Wrong
A (CloudWatch) can aggregate logs and metrics and build dashboards, but it does not trace individual requests as they propagate between microservices, so it cannot provide the required end-to-end request view. B (CloudTrail) records AWS API and account activity for auditing and compliance, not application-level request tracing or microservice performance data. D (AWS Health) reports the status of AWS services and events affecting your AWS account, not the health of your application's microservices. None of these options involve instrumenting application code to follow a request across service boundaries, which the question explicitly requires.Community Comment Notes
All four comments vote C, giving 100% agreement with no dissenting answers in the vote distribution. The most useful comment explains that X-Ray is specifically designed for tracing and debugging distributed applications like microservices architectures on EC2, and that the service map helps pinpoint bottlenecks. Another comment reinforces a reliable exam heuristic: "always AWS X-RAY for debugging." The consensus is strong and unambiguous, so C can be selected with high confidence.Official Reference
Exam Strategy
Map exam keywords to services: "end-to-end view of requests," "trace," "debug distributed/microservices" point to X-Ray; "logs and metrics dashboards" point to CloudWatch; "API call auditing" points to CloudTrail; "AWS service/account health events" point to AWS Health. Whenever a question asks to follow a single request across multiple services, instrumentation with the X-Ray SDK is mandatory because dashboards alone cannot reconstruct that path.
Related Analysis
Practice All DVA-C02 Questions
Access 100 questions with complete answers and detailed explanations.
View Full DVA-C02 Practice Test →