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Amazon OpenSearch Service Quiz

Test your understanding of Amazon OpenSearch Service.


  1. What open-source project is Amazon OpenSearch Service based on?

    • A) Apache Solr
    • B) Elasticsearch 7.10 fork
    • C) Apache Lucene alone
    • D) Splunk open-source version
Show Answer

Answer: B) Elasticsearch 7.10 fork

Explanation: OpenSearch is an open-source project created by AWS in 2021 by forking Elasticsearch 7.10 under the Apache 2.0 license. It was started in response to Elastic's license change (SSPL).


  1. Which node type in an OpenSearch cluster is responsible for index metadata management and cluster state management?

    • A) Data Node
    • B) Master Node
    • C) UltraWarm Node
    • D) Coordinating Node
Show Answer

Answer: B) Master Node

Explanation: Master Nodes handle cluster management tasks such as cluster state management, index creation/deletion, and shard allocation decisions. In production environments, 3 dedicated master nodes are recommended.


  1. What is OpenSearch's cost-effective read-only storage tier?

    • A) Hot Storage
    • B) Warm Storage
    • C) UltraWarm
    • D) Standard Storage
Show Answer

Answer: C) UltraWarm

Explanation: UltraWarm is an S3-based read-only storage tier that is approximately 75% cheaper than Hot storage (EBS). It is suitable for storing historical log data that is not frequently queried.


  1. What is the primary purpose of ISM (Index State Management) policies?

    • A) Managing index security settings
    • B) Automating index lifecycle (rollover, deletion, etc.)
    • C) Optimizing index queries
    • D) Configuring index replication
Show Answer

Answer: B) Automating index lifecycle (rollover, deletion, etc.)

Explanation: ISM policies automatically manage index lifecycles. They can automate index rollover, Hot→UltraWarm→Cold transitions, and deletion after retention periods.


  1. Which log collection method for OpenSearch is most cost-effective and easiest to manage?

    • A) Logstash on EC2
    • B) FluentBit DaemonSet + direct transmission
    • C) Kinesis Data Firehose
    • D) Lambda functions
Show Answer

Answer: C) Kinesis Data Firehose

Explanation: Kinesis Data Firehose is a fully managed service that automatically performs buffering, compression, and batch processing. With built-in S3 backup and error handling, it has low operational overhead and is cost-effective for large-scale log collection.


  1. In OpenSearch Fine-Grained Access Control (FGAC), which feature restricts access to logs from only specific namespaces?

    • A) Field-Level Security (FLS)
    • B) Document-Level Security (DLS)
    • C) Index-Level Security
    • D) Cluster-Level Security
Show Answer

Answer: B) Document-Level Security (DLS)

Explanation: Document-Level Security (DLS) restricts access to only documents matching specific conditions. For example, you can configure access to only a specific team's logs using the condition kubernetes.namespace: "team-a".


  1. In OpenSearch index templates, what is the Elasticsearch/OpenSearch string optimization type used instead of LowCardinality?

    • A) text
    • B) keyword
    • C) analyzed_string
    • D) compact_string
Show Answer

Answer: B) keyword

Explanation: In OpenSearch, low-cardinality string fields (namespace, level, etc.) use the keyword type. The text type is tokenized for full-text search, while keyword is optimized for exact matching and aggregations.


  1. What is the correct storage tiering order for OpenSearch cost optimization?

    • A) Cold → UltraWarm → Hot
    • B) Hot → Cold → UltraWarm
    • C) Hot → UltraWarm → Cold
    • D) UltraWarm → Hot → Cold
Show Answer

Answer: C) Hot → UltraWarm → Cold

Explanation: Data is first stored in Hot storage (EBS) for fast queries, then moves to UltraWarm (read-only) as time passes, and finally to Cold Storage (S3) for older data. Cost decreases in this order.


  1. What is the correct Query DSL for searching error logs within a specific time range in OpenSearch?

    • A) {"query": {"match": {"level": "error", "time": "1h"}}}
    • B) {"query": {"bool": {"must": [{"match": {"level": "error"}}, {"range": {"@timestamp": {"gte": "now-1h"}}}]}}}
    • C) {"filter": {"level": "error", "time": "> now-1h"}}
    • D) {"search": {"level": "error", "since": "1h"}}
Show Answer

Answer: B) {"query": {"bool": {"must": [{"match": {"level": "error"}}, {"range": {"@timestamp": {"gte": "now-1h"}}}]}}}

Explanation: In OpenSearch Query DSL, bool queries are used to combine multiple conditions. The must array includes both match (text matching) and range (time range) specifications.


  1. When comparing OpenSearch and Loki, which use case is OpenSearch more suitable for?

    • A) Startups where cost optimization is the top priority
    • B) Cases requiring full-text search and complex analytical queries
    • C) Integration with existing Grafana stack
    • D) Cases requiring only simple log filtering
Show Answer

Answer: B) Cases requiring full-text search and complex analytical queries

Explanation: OpenSearch supports powerful Lucene-based full-text search capabilities and complex aggregation queries. It is suitable for security analysis (SIEM), compliance, and complex log analysis. For cost optimization or simple filtering, Loki is more appropriate.