Which design will meet the requirements with MINIMUM effort?
Create a scheduled process to copy the component’s logs into Amazon S3. Use S3 events to trigger a Lambda function that updates Amazon CloudWatch metrics with the log data. Set up CloudWatch alerts based on the metrics.
Install and configure the Amazon CloudWatch Logs agent on the application’s EC2 instance. Create a CloudWatch metric filter to monitor the application logs. Set up CloudWatch alerts based on the metrics.
Create a scheduled process to copy the application log files to AWS CloudTrail. Use S3 events to trigger Lambda functions that update CloudWatch metrics with the log data. Set up CloudWatch alerts based on the metrics.
Create a file watcher that copies data to Amazon Kinesis when the application writes to the log file. Have Kinesis trigger a Lambda function to update Amazon CloudWatch metrics with the log data. Set up CloudWatch alerts based on the metrics.
Explanations:
This option involves a scheduled process to copy logs to S3, which is not the most efficient method for continuous monitoring. While S3 can trigger Lambda functions, the overhead of copying files regularly adds unnecessary complexity.
Installing the Amazon CloudWatch Logs agent directly on the EC2 instance allows for real-time monitoring of logs. It simplifies the setup and provides immediate visibility into log data through CloudWatch, making it the most efficient option for continuous log monitoring.
AWS CloudTrail is used for logging API calls and account activity, not for monitoring application logs. This option incorrectly suggests using CloudTrail for log file copying, which would not fulfill the requirement of monitoring security incidents in application logs.
While using a file watcher to copy logs to Amazon Kinesis can facilitate monitoring, it introduces additional complexity and overhead. Setting up Kinesis and managing the data stream adds unnecessary effort compared to using the CloudWatch Logs agent directly.
If I had to guess, I’d say the answer is:
Install and configure the Amazon CloudWatch Logs agent on the application’s EC2 instance. Create a CloudWatch metric filter to monitor the application logs. Set up CloudWatch alerts based on the metrics.