PAS-C01 Practice Test 38 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Refer to the exhibit. A company is migrating an SAP application server running on Windows to AWS. They launched an EC2 instance with Windows Server. After launching, they run the command and get the output shown. They need to install SAP software. What additional step is required before installing SAP?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Join the EC2 instance to an Active Directory domain. SAP on Windows requires an Active Directory (AD) domain for Kerberos-based authentication, which is essential for SAP system communication. Before installing SAP software, the EC2 instance must be joined to an AD domain (e.g., via AWS Managed Microsoft AD or self-managed AD). Option A is incorrect because instance type selection should meet SAP requirements, but changing to memory-optimized is not a prerequisite for installation. Option B is incorrect: the instance is already running and stopping/starting does not initialize the OS beyond normal boot. Option C is incorrect: security group rules for SAP ports can be configured at any time before or after installation.

Answer

Change the instance type to a memory-optimized instance

Answer

Stop and start the instance to initialize the Windows OS

Answer

Modify the security group to allow SAP-specific ports

Question 2

An SAP system on AWS is experiencing high read latency from the SAP HANA database. The system uses Provisioned IOPS EBS volumes. Which action would most likely improve read latency?

Accepted Answer

Increase the provisioned IOPS on the EBS volumes.. Increasing the provisioned IOPS on the EBS volumes directly addresses high read latency by raising the I/O performance ceiling for the SAP HANA database. Since the system already uses Provisioned IOPS (io1/io2) volumes, higher IOPS reduces queue depth and read latency under heavy workloads. Other options are incorrect: changing to gp2 reduces IOPS, disabling write caching does not improve read latency, and instance store volumes are ephemeral and not recommended for HANA data persistence.

Answer

Change the EBS volume type to gp2.

Answer

Disable write caching on the EBS volumes.

Answer

Move the HANA data to instance store volumes.

Question 3

An SAP system is running on AWS with a production HANA database. The database administrator wants to ensure that backups are consistent and can be restored. Which TWO approaches should be used together for a robust backup strategy?

Accepted Answer

AWS Backup with a backup plan that includes both EBS snapshots and Backint.. Options A and E are correct. AWS Backup with a backup plan that includes both EBS snapshots (crash-consistent) and Backint integration (application-consistent) provides a comprehensive backup strategy for SAP HANA on AWS. Option A ensures crash-consistent backups at the storage level, while Option E uses SAP HANA Backint to produce application-consistent backups that can be orchestrated by AWS Backup. Option B (regular EBS snapshots without coordination) lacks application consistency. Option C (Auto Scaling) is not a backup mechanism. Option D (DMS) is for database migration, not backup.

Answer

Regular EBS snapshots of the data volume.

Answer

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to create backup instances.

Answer

AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for continuous replication.

Question 4

Refer to the exhibit. A CloudFormation stack creation failed with the message 'WaitCondition received failed signal'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The script executed via cfn-signal failed to complete successfully. The `WaitCondition` resource in CloudFormation is designed to pause stack creation until it receives a success signal from a resource, typically an EC2 instance running a cfn-init script. The 'WaitCondition received failed signal' error indicates that the signal sent was explicitly a failure signal (e.g., via `cfn-signal --exit-code 1`), not that the signal was lost or blocked. This most commonly occurs when the script executed by cfn-init or a user-data script encounters an error and exits with a non-zero exit code, causing cfn-signal to send a failure signal to the WaitCondition.

Answer

The security group rules are blocking the cfn-signal communication

Answer

The stack creation timed out after 1 hour

Answer

The EC2 instance type is not supported in the region

Question 5

An SAP administrator needs to monitor the free space of EBS volumes across multiple EC2 instances running SAP. Which AWS service should be used to collect and visualize this data?

Accepted Answer

Amazon CloudWatch. Amazon CloudWatch can collect custom metrics from EC2 instances using the CloudWatch agent, enabling monitoring of EBS volume free space. Option A is incorrect because AWS CloudTrail logs API calls, not system metrics. Option C is incorrect because AWS Config tracks configuration changes, not real-time performance data. Option D is incorrect because AWS Trusted Advisor provides best-practice checks, not real-time monitoring.

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

AWS Trusted Advisor

Question 6

A company runs SAP S/4HANA on AWS using a multi-ABAP application server setup with a central services instance (ASCS) and enqueue replication. After a recent OS patching, the secondary application server fails to start, with errors indicating it cannot connect to the enqueue replication server (ERS). The ERS process is running on the ASCS instance. The network team confirms that security groups and NACLs are properly configured. Which THREE steps should be taken to resolve this issue? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Check the SAP instance profile for the enqueue replication parameters (e.g., rdisp/enq_repl_server).. The SAP instance profile on the secondary application server may have lost or misconfigured the enqueue replication parameters (e.g., rdisp/enq_repl_server) during the OS patching, which would prevent it from connecting to the ERS. Option C is correct because the ERS process (enre) must be running on the ASCS instance and listening on the correct port; if it stopped or changed ports after patching, connectivity fails. Option D is correct because the secondary application server needs to resolve the ERS hostname correctly via DNS or /etc/hosts; patching may have altered hostname resolution. Option A is incorrect because changing the instance type does not address connectivity to the ERS; the issue is network or configuration, not sizing. Option E is incorrect because the SAP kernel version is unlikely to change due to OS patching, and updating the kernel is not a standard troubleshooting step for this specific ERS connection issue.

Answer

Change the secondary application server instance type to a larger size.

Answer

Update the SAP kernel on the secondary application server to the latest version.

Question 7

A company runs SAP on AWS and uses AWS KMS for encryption of EBS volumes. The security team requires that the EBS volumes used for SAP HANA data and log files be encrypted with a customer-managed key. They also want to ensure that the key cannot be deleted. What should the security team do to protect the KMS key?

Accepted Answer

Set a key policy that prevents the kms:ScheduleKeyDeletion action.. Setting a key policy that denies the kms:ScheduleKeyDeletion action prevents the key from being deleted. This ensures that the customer-managed key used for EBS volume encryption cannot be scheduled for deletion, meeting the security requirement. Option B is incorrect because AWS managed keys cannot have custom key policies and are managed by AWS, which does not meet the requirement for a customer-managed key. Option C is incorrect because storing the key in Secrets Manager is not for deletion prevention; Secrets Manager is for secure storage of secrets, not for KMS key deletion protection. Option D is incorrect because automatic key rotation creates new cryptographic material but does not prevent key deletion; it is a security best practice for key freshness, not for deletion prevention.

Answer

Use an AWS managed key instead of a customer-managed key.

Answer

Store the key in AWS Secrets Manager.

Answer

Enable automatic key rotation.

Question 8

Which ONE of the following is required to enable SAP HANA System Replication across two AWS Availability Zones?

Accepted Answer

The primary and secondary instances must be in the same AWS region. SAP HANA System Replication requires primary and secondary instances to be in the same AWS region to ensure low-latency replication; cross-region replication is not supported for synchronous replication. Option A is correct. Option B is incorrect because a Virtual Private Gateway is not needed for replication within a VPC. Option C is incorrect because SAP HANA System Replication operates at the database level and does not require shared storage or multi-attach EBS volumes. Option D is incorrect because a cluster placement group is not required for HANA System Replication; it is used for low-latency networking in scale-out scenarios. Option E is incorrect because an Application Load Balancer is not used for replication traffic; replication is handled directly between HANA instances.

Answer

A Virtual Private Gateway must be attached to the VPC

Answer

The EBS volumes must be configured for multi-attach or use a shared file system

Answer

A cluster placement group must be used

Answer

An Application Load Balancer must be configured for the replication traffic

Question 9

A company is deploying SAP S/4HANA on AWS and needs to ensure that the system can handle a sudden increase in user load during month-end closing. Which architectural change would best address this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Configure auto-scaling for the SAP application tier based on CPU utilization.. SAP S/4HANA on AWS supports auto-scaling for the application tier (ASCS/PAS/AAS) using AWS Auto Scaling groups based on CPU utilization. This allows the system to dynamically add or remove application server instances to handle sudden spikes in user load during month-end closing, ensuring performance without manual intervention.

Answer

Deploy the application across multiple Availability Zones.

Answer

Increase the provisioned IOPS on the database EBS volumes.

Answer

Use a larger EC2 instance type for the application server.

Question 10

A company uses AWS Lambda functions with reserved concurrency to process messages from an SQS queue. The operations team notices that the Lambda function sometimes throttles, causing messages to remain in the queue. What is the MOST likely cause and solution?

Accepted Answer

The reserved concurrency is set too low; increase the reserved concurrency for the function.. Lambda throttling occurs when the reserved concurrency limit is reached, preventing the function from processing new invocations. Since the function uses reserved concurrency, setting it too low restricts the number of concurrent executions, causing SQS messages to remain in the queue until concurrency becomes available. Increasing the reserved concurrency allows more parallel invocations, reducing throttling and improving message processing throughput.

Answer

The SQS visibility timeout is too short; increase it.

Answer

The Lambda function's dead-letter queue (DLQ) is not configured; set up a DLQ.

Answer

The SQS queue's redrive policy is too aggressive; reduce the maxReceiveCount.

Question 11

A company is migrating SAP applications to AWS and needs to ensure that the environment meets SAP certification. Which TWO AWS services are specifically designed to help validate SAP workloads on AWS?

Accepted Answer

AWS Launch Wizard for SAP. AWS Launch Wizard for SAP (Option B) is specifically designed to guide you through the sizing, configuration, and deployment of SAP systems on AWS, automatically generating a CloudFormation template that adheres to SAP certification requirements. AWS Trusted Advisor (Option E) provides checks for SAP-specific best practices, such as verifying that your EC2 instances are SAP-certified and that your storage configuration meets SAP's performance requirements. Both services directly help validate that your SAP workload meets SAP's certification criteria on AWS.

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

Amazon Inspector

Answer

AWS Well-Architected Tool

Question 12

A company is migrating an SAP system to AWS and needs to ensure that the SAP license is compliant. The current license is based on the number of users. Which AWS pricing model is most appropriate for this scenario?

Accepted Answer

On-Demand instances. On-Demand instances are the most appropriate pricing model for this SAP migration because the SAP license is based on the number of users, not on the underlying hardware or instance type. With On-Demand instances, the company pays only for compute capacity by the hour or second, avoiding any long-term commitment that could inadvertently trigger SAP license compliance issues related to dedicated hardware or specific instance sizing. This flexibility allows the company to align AWS costs directly with the user-based SAP licensing model without additional constraints.

Answer

Spot Instances

Answer

Reserved Instances

Answer

Dedicated Hosts

Question 13

Refer to the exhibit. A CloudFormation template is used to migrate a web server to AWS. The template launches an EC2 instance but does not install the web server. What is the best way to automate the installation?

Accepted Answer

Add a UserData property to the EC2 instance resource.. The UserData property in a CloudFormation EC2 resource allows you to specify scripts or commands that run automatically at instance launch. This is the simplest and most direct method to install software like a web server during provisioning. Option A (CloudWatch Events triggering Lambda) is not automatic at launch and requires additional resources. Option C (Run Command) requires manual invocation or scheduling, not automatic at launch. Option D (CodeDeploy) requires an agent to be pre-installed, which is not the case here.

Answer

Create a CloudWatch Events rule to trigger a Lambda function after instance launch.

Answer

Use AWS Systems Manager Run Command to install the web server.

Answer

Use AWS CodeDeploy to deploy the web server after the instance is created.

Question 14

A company is migrating its SAP ERP system to AWS and needs to minimize network latency between the SAP application servers and the database. Which AWS service or feature should be used to meet this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Place the application and database servers in the same placement group.. Placement groups in AWS, specifically cluster placement groups, provide low-latency network performance by ensuring that EC2 instances are placed in close physical proximity within a single Availability Zone. This minimizes network latency between SAP application servers and the database, meeting the requirement for high-throughput, low-latency communication critical for SAP ERP workloads.

Answer

Use AWS Global Accelerator for the application servers.

Answer

Set up VPC peering between the application and database VPCs.

Answer

Use an Elastic Load Balancer in front of the application servers.

Question 15

A company runs SAP on AWS and needs to patch the operating system of multiple EC2 instances on a schedule. The instances are part of an Auto Scaling group. Which AWS service can be used to apply patches without disrupting the Auto Scaling group's desired capacity?

Accepted Answer

AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager. AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager can be used to apply OS patches to EC2 instances on a schedule. It integrates with Auto Scaling groups to maintain desired capacity, for example by using instance refresh to roll out patches without disrupting the group's capacity. Option B (Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling) is incorrect because it manages scaling, not patching. Option C (AWS CloudFormation) is incorrect because it is used for infrastructure provisioning, not patching. Option D (AWS CodeDeploy) is incorrect because it is for application deployments, not OS patching.

Answer

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Answer

AWS CloudFormation

Answer

AWS CodeDeploy