📋 AWS Monitoring & Observability Cheat Sheet

Quick-reference for CloudWatch metrics, alarms, Logs Insights, X-Ray, EventBridge, and centralized observability patterns.

CloudWatch Metrics & Alarms

  • Standard resolution: 1 min (basic) or 5 min; high-resolution: 1 sec
  • Composite alarms: combine multiple alarms with AND/OR logic
  • Anomaly detection: ML-based bands for metric baselines
  • Metric math: expressions across metrics (METRICS, FILL, SEARCH)

CloudWatch Logs

  • Log groups → log streams → log events
  • Subscription filters: real-time to Lambda, Kinesis, or OpenSearch
  • Logs Insights: query language for analysis (fields, filter, stats, sort)
  • Cross-account log sharing via destination policies

X-Ray Tracing

  • Traces → segments → subsegments
  • Annotations: indexed key-value for filtering
  • Metadata: non-indexed debug data
  • Sampling: reservoir (per-second) + fixed rate

EventBridge

  • Event bus: default, custom, partner, cross-account
  • Rules: event patterns (content-based filtering) or schedule
  • Targets: Lambda, SQS, SNS, Step Functions, SSM Automation, and 20+ more
  • Archive and replay for debugging and recovery

Practice Monitoring Questions

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