Master AWS DevOps Pro 2025 – Conquer the Cloud with Confidence!

AWS Trusted Advisor is the correct choice for identifying under-utilized EC2 instances because it offers real-time guidance to help provision your resources following AWS best practices. One of the specific checks provided by Trusted Advisor is for underutilized instances, which identifies EC2 instances that are running but may not be needed or could be downsized based on their usage metrics. This service helps you optimize your resource utilization, which can lead to cost savings.

While AWS Cost Explorer is also useful for analyzing costs and usage data over time, it does not directly identify underutilization. Instead, it allows you to visualize your spending patterns and trends, making it more about financial insights than resource efficiency.

AWS X-Ray is focused on analyzing and debugging microservices applications, helping developers understand how their applications are performing and identifying performance bottlenecks. It does not specifically address resource utilization of EC2 instances.

AWS CloudTrail is a service that records user activity and API usage within your AWS account, providing visibility into account activity but not offering immediate insights into resource utilization metrics.

Therefore, Trusted Advisor is specifically designed for identifying under-utilization and helps you make informed decisions about resource optimization in a more direct way.