PAS-C01 Practice Test 44 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Refer to the exhibit. An administrator is setting up a migration from on-premises VMware VMs to AWS using AWS Server Migration Service (SMS). The IAM policy shown is attached to the SMS service role. The migration fails with an error indicating insufficient permissions. Which additional permission is required for SMS to successfully replicate VMs?

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

Accepted Answer

ec2:ImportImage. The correct additional permission is ec2:ImportImage (Option B). AWS SMS uses this action to import a VM from on-premises as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) in EC2. The IAM policy in the exhibit likely includes actions such as ec2:CreateSnapshot (needed for replication) but is missing ec2:ImportImage, which is explicitly required for the final import step. Option A (ec2:DeleteSnapshot) is not needed because SMS does not delete snapshots as part of the replication process. Option C (ec2:DescribeRegions) is a read-only action and is not required for the import. Option D (ec2:CreateSnapshot) is typically already included in the SMS service role, so the error is not due to its absence.

Answer

ec2:DeleteSnapshot

Answer

ec2:DescribeRegions

Answer

ec2:CreateSnapshot

Question 2

A company is running an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with a single EBS volume for /hana/data. The performance team reports high write latency during peak hours. Which change would most effectively reduce write latency without compromising data durability?

Accepted Answer

Configure multiple EBS volumes in a striped RAID 0 array for the /hana/data directory. Configuring multiple EBS volumes in a striped RAID 0 array is the most effective way to reduce write latency for SAP HANA's /hana/data directory because it distributes I/O across multiple volumes, increasing throughput and reducing latency. This approach is recommended by AWS for high-performance SAP HANA workloads. Option A (switching to io1 with high IOPS) could improve performance but is more expensive and may not provide the same level of throughput as striping. Option B (increasing volume size) only increases baseline IOPS for gp2/gp3 volumes but does not guarantee latency reduction. Option C (moving to gp2) is a downgrade from the current volume type (likely gp3 or io1) and would likely increase latency.

Answer

Switch the EBS volume type to Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) with high IOPS

Answer

Increase the size of the EBS volume to gain more baseline IOPS

Answer

Move the /hana/data directory to a General Purpose SSD (gp2) volume

Question 3

A company is migrating its SAP environment to AWS and wants to automate the installation of SAP software on EC2 instances. Which AWS service is best suited for this purpose?

Accepted Answer

AWS CloudFormation. (AWS CloudFormation) is correct because CloudFormation allows infrastructure as code and can use custom resource providers for SAP installation. Option B (AWS Elastic Beanstalk) is for web applications, not SAP. Option C (Amazon EC2 Launch Templates) only configures EC2 instances at launch, not full SAP installation. Option D (AWS OpsWorks) is for Chef/Puppet automation but not SAP-specific.

Answer

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Answer

Amazon EC2 Launch Templates

Answer

AWS OpsWorks

Question 4

An SAP system on AWS uses Amazon RDS for its database. The operations team needs to perform a point-in-time recovery (PITR) to restore the database to a specific timestamp. Which AWS feature enables PITR for RDS?

Accepted Answer

Automated backups. Automated backups (option C) enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) for Amazon RDS. They provide continuous backups that allow restoring the database to any point within the retention period. Option A (Manual DB snapshots) are user-initiated and not used for PITR. Option B (Read Replicas) are for read scaling, not recovery. Option D (Multi-AZ deployment) provides high availability, not PITR.

Answer

Manual DB snapshots

Answer

Read Replicas

Answer

Multi-AZ deployment

Question 5

A company runs SAP on AWS and uses a Multi-AZ RDS for Oracle as the database. They observe that the database failover took longer than expected during a recent test. What is the most likely cause of the increased failover time?

Accepted Answer

The primary instance had a high volume of ongoing transactions that needed to be completed or rolled back before failover could proceed.. In a Multi-AZ RDS deployment, during a failover, the primary instance must complete or roll back any in-flight transactions before the standby can take over. If there is a high volume of ongoing transactions, this process can take longer, increasing failover time. Option A is incorrect because uncommitted transactions are typically rolled back quickly; the issue is more about transactions that need to reach a consistent state. Option B is incorrect because DNS TTL does not significantly affect RDS failover detection; the failover mechanism uses a CNAME update that is fast. Option D is incorrect because in Multi-AZ RDS, the standby is kept in sync synchronously, and read replicas are not used for Multi-AZ; they are a separate feature.

Answer

The database had a large number of uncommitted transactions that needed to be rolled back.

Answer

The DNS TTL was set too high, causing delays in routing to the new primary.

Answer

The standby instance was not in sync because read replicas were used for reads.

Question 6

A company uses AWS Systems Manager to automate patching of SAP application servers. Which TWO resources are required to use Systems Manager Patch Manager?

Accepted Answer

AWS Systems Manager Agent (SSM Agent) installed on the EC2 instances. The correct answers are B and D. AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager requires the SSM Agent to be installed on the EC2 instances (B) to receive and apply patches. Additionally, the instances must be associated with an IAM role that grants Systems Manager permissions (D) to allow the service to communicate with the instances and perform patching actions. Options A, C, and E are not required. An Application Load Balancer (A) is not needed for patching. A NAT gateway (C) is not necessary because you can use VPC endpoints for Systems Manager instead of outbound internet access. An internet gateway (E) is also not required if VPC endpoints are used.

Answer

An Application Load Balancer in front of the instances

Answer

A NAT gateway for outbound internet access

Answer

An internet gateway attached to the VPC

Question 7

Which TWO actions should be taken to improve the performance of an SAP HANA database running on AWS? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Increase the size of the HANA instance to allocate more memory.. Options A and D are correct. Increasing memory (A) directly benefits SAP HANA which is memory-intensive. Using EBS-optimized instances (D) dedicates network bandwidth to EBS, improving I/O performance for HANA data volumes. Option C (ALB) distributes traffic but does not help HANA performance. Option B (termination protection) and Option E (detailed monitoring) are not performance improvements.

Answer

Enable termination protection on EC2 instances.

Answer

Use an Application Load Balancer to distribute traffic.

Answer

Enable detailed monitoring on EC2 instances.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. An operations team uses an EC2 instance with this IAM policy to manage EBS snapshots for SAP HANA backups. The backup script calls the DeleteSnapshot API for snapshot snap-0abcdef1234567890. What will happen?

Accepted Answer

The DeleteSnapshot API call will be denied.. The IAM policy evaluation logic dictates that an explicit Deny overrides any Allow. Since the policy explicitly denies DeleteSnapshot for the specific snapshot snap-0abcdef1234567890, the API call will be denied even if an Allow statement exists. Option A is incorrect because the Deny is not restricted to 'other snapshots'; it specifically targets the snapshot in question. Option B is incorrect because the Allow does not override an explicit Deny. Option C is incorrect because the policy is syntactically valid; the explicit Deny is a legitimate policy statement.

Answer

The snapshot will be deleted because the Deny applies only to other snapshots.

Answer

The snapshot will be deleted because the Allow statement grants permission.

Answer

The policy is invalid and will cause an error.

Question 9

An SAP administrator is troubleshooting a performance issue on an SAP application server. The administrator wants to collect detailed metrics about the EC2 instance's memory usage. Which TWO AWS services can be used to collect memory metrics? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Amazon CloudWatch Agent. Amazon CloudWatch Agent (option C) can be installed on EC2 instances to collect memory metrics and send them to CloudWatch. AWS Systems Manager Run Command (option D) can be used to run scripts on the instance to collect memory data and push custom metrics to CloudWatch. AWS CloudTrail (option A) logs API calls, not memory usage. AWS X-Ray (option B) is for tracing requests, not memory. AWS Config (option E) records configuration changes, not performance metrics.

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

AWS X-Ray

Answer

AWS Config

Question 10

An SAP system running on EC2 is experiencing intermittent connectivity issues between application servers and the database server. The network team suspects that the security group rules are too restrictive. What is the best approach to identify which traffic is being blocked?

Accepted Answer

Enable VPC Flow Logs on the subnet or ENI and review the logs for rejected traffic.. VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic going to and from network interfaces in a VPC. They can show accepted and rejected traffic, making them ideal for identifying blocked traffic. Option A is wrong because SAP application logs only show connection errors from the application's perspective, not network-level blocking. Option B is wrong because CloudTrail logs API calls (e.g., security group changes), not network traffic. Option C is wrong because CloudWatch metrics aggregate network data but do not provide per-packet detail to identify rejected traffic.

Answer

Check the SAP application logs for connection errors.

Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail and look for security group modification events.

Answer

Use Amazon CloudWatch to monitor network packets.

Question 11

A company runs SAP on AWS and has configured automated snapshots of EBS volumes for backup. The operations team discovers that the snapshots are not being deleted after the retention period. Which action should be taken to ensure snapshots are automatically deleted?

Accepted Answer

Use Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager to create a snapshot lifecycle policy.. Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) allows you to create automated lifecycle policies for EBS snapshots, including automatic deletion after a retention period. Option A is incorrect because S3 Lifecycle policies do not apply to EBS snapshots; EBS snapshots are stored in S3 but are managed separately. Option C is incorrect because while possible, using CloudWatch Events and Lambda is not the recommended managed solution; DLM is purpose-built for this task. Option D is incorrect because there is no native retention policy on EBS volumes; retention is handled through snapshot lifecycle policies.

Answer

Set an S3 Lifecycle policy on the snapshots.

Answer

Create a CloudWatch Events rule to invoke a Lambda function for deletion.

Answer

Configure retention policy directly on the EBS volume.

Question 12

A company runs SAP HANA on AWS and wants to monitor the system for potential performance issues. Which metrics should be monitored to detect memory pressure?

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA memory usage (from SAP HANA metrics). SAP HANA memory usage directly indicates memory pressure, as memory pressure occurs when the HANA database consumes too much memory. Option A is incorrect because network throughput does not measure memory usage. Option C is incorrect because CPU utilization measures processor load, not memory. Option D is incorrect because EBS volume queue length indicates storage I/O latency, not memory pressure.

Answer

Network throughput

Answer

CPU utilization

Answer

EBS volume queue length

Question 13

An SAP administrator receives an alert that the SAP HANA database is using 95% of its allocated memory. The system is running on an EC2 instance with 1 TB of RAM. The administrator needs to add more memory without significant downtime. Which action should be taken?

Accepted Answer

Stop the SAP HANA database, change the EC2 instance type to one with more memory, then restart the database.. To increase the RAM of an EC2 instance running SAP HANA, you must stop the instance (and the database) and change the instance type to one with more memory. This is the only way to add memory with minimal downtime, as memory cannot be added dynamically. Option A is incorrect because changing the instance type while running is not supported for all instance types and requires a stop for memory changes. Option B is incorrect because EBS volumes provide storage, not memory. Option D is incorrect because swap space is virtual memory and not a suitable solution for SAP HANA, which requires physical RAM for performance.

Answer

Modify the EC2 instance type to a larger size while the instance is running.

Answer

Add additional EBS volumes to the instance to increase memory capacity.

Answer

Increase the swap space on the instance to provide virtual memory.

Question 14

An SAP on AWS environment includes multiple instances across Availability Zones. The operations team needs to automatically replace an unhealthy EC2 instance that is part of an SAP application cluster. Which AWS service can automatically detect and replace the instance based on health checks?

Accepted Answer

Auto Scaling group. An Auto Scaling group with health checks can automatically detect and replace unhealthy EC2 instances. This is commonly used for SAP applications to maintain high availability across Availability Zones. Option A is incorrect because Elastic Load Balancing distributes traffic but does not replace instances. Option B is incorrect because AWS Systems Manager Automation can automate maintenance tasks but does not automatically replace instances based on health checks. Option D is incorrect because Amazon CloudWatch alarms can notify on health status but do not automatically replace instances.

Answer

Elastic Load Balancing

Answer

AWS Systems Manager Automation

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch alarms

Question 15

A company runs SAP on AWS and needs to implement a disaster recovery (DR) strategy with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 2 hours. The primary site is in us-east-1 and the DR site in us-west-2. The SAP HANA database is 5 TB. Which approach meets these requirements cost-effectively?

Accepted Answer

Configure HANA System Replication in async mode between the primary and DR instances over AWS Direct Connect.. (HANA System Replication with async mode over AWS Direct Connect) is correct because it enables continuous data replication with a low RPO (asynchronous replication can be sub-minute), and the RTO can be within 2 hours by failing over to the DR instance. It is cost-effective as it uses existing HANA licenses and compute/storage resources. Option A (S3 cross-region replication of backups) may achieve the RPO, but restoring from backups typically exceeds the 2-hour RTO. Option B (AWS DMS) is not designed for SAP HANA replication; it is intended for homogeneous or heterogeneous database migrations. Option C (EBS snapshots every 15 minutes) may not consistently meet the RPO due to snapshot creation time and the time required to copy snapshots across regions, and RTO is high because the volume must be created and attached before recovery.

Answer

Use Amazon S3 cross-region replication to copy database backups every 15 minutes.

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for ongoing replication to a HANA instance in us-west-2.

Answer

Take EBS snapshots of the data volume every 15 minutes and copy them to us-west-2.