PAS-C01 Practice Exam 57 — 20 Questions

Question 1

An organization is migrating a large data lake (500 TB) from on-premises HDFS to Amazon S3. The migration must be completed within 3 weeks. The network bandwidth between on-premises and AWS is 1 Gbps. What is the MOST efficient migration approach?

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

Accepted Answer

Use multiple AWS Snowball Edge devices to transfer the data in parallel.. Given the 500 TB data volume and a 3-week deadline, the 1 Gbps network bandwidth yields a theoretical maximum transfer of only ~340 TB in 3 weeks (1 Gbps * 21 days * 86400 seconds / 8 bits per byte), which is insufficient. AWS Snowball Edge devices provide a petabyte-scale, offline data transfer solution that bypasses network constraints entirely, allowing parallel transfers to meet the timeline. This is the most efficient approach because it avoids network bottlenecks and leverages physical shipping for massive datasets.

Answer

Use AWS DataSync over the existing internet connection.

Answer

Order a dedicated AWS Direct Connect circuit at 10 Gbps and use AWS DataSync.

Answer

Use Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration to speed up the transfer over the internet.

Question 2

A company runs SAP on AWS using a multi-AZ deployment. The database is an SAP HANA system replicated across two Availability Zones. During a recent failure, the standby HANA instance did not take over automatically. The operations team finds that the HANA replication status was 'ERROR' before the failure. What is the most likely reason for the failed takeover?

Accepted Answer

The HANA system replication was not in sync; data was not fully replicated to the standby.. If the HANA system replication status is 'ERROR', automatic takeover cannot occur. The replication link must be healthy for the standby to have the latest data. Option A is wrong because a difference in instance numbers does not cause a replication status error; replication setup would fail if instance numbers mismatched. Option B is wrong because a misconfigured fencing mechanism would not cause a replication status error; it would prevent takeover only if fencing fails. Option D is wrong because high network latency could cause replication lag but not an error status; the status error indicates a more fundamental issue.

Answer

The standby HANA instance had a different instance number than the primary.

Answer

The fencing mechanism was not configured correctly in the cluster.

Answer

The network latency between the two Availability Zones was too high.

Question 3

An architect is designing a highly available SAP NetWeaver architecture on AWS. The system uses an SAP Central Services (ASCS) instance. Which THREE components are required to achieve high availability for the SAP environment? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Shared file storage (e.g., Amazon EFS or EBS Multi-Attach). A cluster manager like Pacemaker is required to orchestrate failover between the two ASCS nodes. Shared file storage (e.g., Amazon EFS or EBS Multi-Attach) provides a shared file system for /sapmnt and /usr/sap, which must be accessible from both nodes. A Network Load Balancer (NLB) distributes traffic to the active ASCS instance and performs health checks to detect failures. Options C and D are incorrect because a NAT Gateway and Internet Gateway are not required for SAP HA; they are used for outbound/inbound internet connectivity.

Answer

A NAT Gateway for outbound traffic

Answer

An Internet Gateway for inbound traffic

Question 4

A company is migrating a web application to AWS and wants to use a blue/green deployment strategy to minimize downtime. Which AWS service should be used to route traffic between the blue and green environments?

Accepted Answer

Amazon Route 53. Amazon Route 53 is correct because it supports weighted DNS routing, which allows you to shift traffic gradually between blue and green environments by adjusting the weight values for DNS records. This enables a blue/green deployment strategy with minimal downtime, as Route 53 can route a percentage of traffic to the new environment while keeping the old environment active for rollback.

Answer

Amazon CloudFront

Answer

AWS Global Accelerator

Answer

Application Load Balancer (ALB)

Question 5

An SAP system on AWS is using a shared /usr/sap/trans directory mounted on an NFS file server. The file server is an EC2 instance with a standard gp2 EBS volume. During SAP transports, users experience slow response times and occasional timeouts. The system administrator suspects the file server is the bottleneck. Which solution would provide a fully managed, highly available, and performant file share for SAP transport files?

Accepted Answer

Migrate /usr/sap/trans to Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP with Multi-AZ deployment.. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP is a fully managed, high-performance NFS file system that supports Multi-AZ deployment and is SAP-certified for /usr/sap/trans. Option A (multiple EC2 file servers with a load balancer) adds complexity and is not fully managed. Option B (Amazon EFS) can be used but may not provide the same level of performance and features as FSx ONTAP for this use case. Option D (increasing the EBS volume size) does not address the single point of failure and may not significantly improve throughput.

Answer

Configure multiple EC2 file servers with a load balancer.

Answer

Replace the EC2 file server with Amazon EFS.

Answer

Increase the EBS volume size of the file server to improve throughput.

Question 6

An SAP HANA system is deployed on AWS with a cluster of EC2 instances. The system requires high network throughput between the nodes for HANA scale-out. Which EC2 networking feature should be used?

Accepted Answer

Enable Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) support on the instances.. For SAP HANA scale-out clusters requiring high network throughput between EC2 instances, the correct feature is Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) support. ENA is a custom network interface optimized for high-throughput and low-latency packet processing, providing up to 100 Gbps of network bandwidth on supported instance types. This directly meets the performance demands of HANA's inter-node communication.

Answer

Use multiple Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs) per instance.

Answer

Use the Intel 82599 VF (ixgbevf) driver for enhanced networking.

Answer

Place all nodes in a cluster placement group.

Question 7

A company is planning to run SAP BusinessObjects (BOBJ) on AWS. The application servers require consistent low-latency access to a shared file system for storing reports and configuration files. Which AWS storage solution is BEST suited for this requirement?

Accepted Answer

Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS).. Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and shared file system that can be accessed concurrently by multiple EC2 instances via the NFSv4.1 protocol. For SAP BusinessObjects application servers requiring consistent low-latency access to shared reports and configuration files, EFS delivers the necessary POSIX permissions, strong consistency, and automatic scaling without provisioning overhead, making it the ideal choice.

Answer

Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) with a multi-attach enabled volume.

Answer

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

Answer

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server.

Question 8

A company is migrating a legacy on-premises application to AWS. The application uses a MySQL database with a complex stored procedure that runs every hour and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The company wants to minimize downtime during migration. Which TWO approaches should the company use to migrate the database?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication from the source MySQL database to an Amazon RDS for MySQL instance.. AWS DMS with ongoing replication allows continuous synchronization from the source MySQL database to Amazon RDS for MySQL, minimizing downtime during migration. The complex stored procedure that runs hourly and takes 10 minutes is handled seamlessly as DMS captures ongoing changes, enabling a controlled cutover with minimal disruption.

Answer

Use AWS DMS with a full load only, without ongoing replication, and schedule a cutover window.

Answer

Take a full database dump using mysqldump and import it into an Amazon RDS for MySQL instance during a planned maintenance window.

Answer

Create an Amazon RDS for MySQL read replica from the on-premises database.

Question 9

A company is migrating an SAP NetWeaver system to AWS. The migration involves moving the application layer to EC2 instances and the database to Amazon RDS for SAP. The company wants to minimize downtime and has a limited time window. Which migration approach should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Use SAP Software Update Manager (SUM) with Database Migration Option (DMO). For minimal downtime during an SAP migration to AWS with a target of Amazon RDS for SAP, the recommended approach is to use SAP Software Update Manager (SUM) with the Database Migration Option (DMO). This integrated tool can handle both the application and database migration in a single, efficient process, minimizing downtime. Option A (AWS Application Migration Service) replicates entire servers but does not handle SAP-specific database and application migration. Option B (SAP System Provisioning, SWPM) is for new installations, not migrations. Option C (AWS DMS for database and AWS MGN for application servers) is incorrect because AWS DMS does not support SAP application migration, and AWS MGN is not SAP-aware. Therefore, Option D (SAP SUM with DMO) is the correct choice.

Answer

Use AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) to replicate the entire server

Answer

Use SAP System Provisioning (SWPM) to export and import the system

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for the database and AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) for the application servers

Question 10

A company is designing a multi-tier web application on AWS. The web tier must scale based on CPU utilization, and the application tier must scale based on request count. Both tiers are deployed in a VPC with public and private subnets. Which combination of AWS services should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Application Load Balancer for the web tier and Network Load Balancer for the application tier. The web tier requires an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to distribute HTTP/HTTPS traffic and can scale based on CPU utilization using an Auto Scaling group with a target tracking policy. The application tier needs a Network Load Balancer (NLB) to handle high request counts at the transport layer (TCP/UDP), which is ideal for scaling based on request count per target. This combination allows each tier to use the most appropriate load balancer for its scaling metric and protocol requirements.

Answer

Classic Load Balancer for both tiers

Answer

Network Load Balancer for the web tier and Application Load Balancer for the application tier

Answer

Amazon API Gateway for the web tier and Application Load Balancer for the application tier

Question 11

Match the AWS service to its function in SAP disaster recovery.

Accepted Answer

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS): Continuous block-level replication of SAP servers to a DR region.. In SAP disaster recovery on AWS, AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) handles continuous replication, Amazon Route 53 manages DNS-based failover, and AWS Global Accelerator provides static IPs for traffic shifting. Common confusions involve mixing the distinct roles of these services.

Answer

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS): Snapshot-based backup of SAP HANA databases.

Answer

AWS Global Accelerator: DNS-based failover routing to redirect traffic to the DR site.

Answer

Amazon Route 53: Continuous block-level replication of SAP servers to a DR region.

Question 12

Match the SAP system component to its AWS service or concept.

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA database: In-memory columnar database, runs on AWS EC2 with HANA-optimized instance types. SAP HANA, NetWeaver, S/4HANA, and BusinessObjects are core SAP components. HANA runs on EC2 with certified instances; NetWeaver and BusinessObjects also run on EC2; S/4HANA requires HANA. Common confusions: Amazon RDS does not support HANA, and NetWeaver is not a database.

Answer

SAP HANA database: Relational database, runs on Amazon RDS

Answer

SAP NetWeaver: In-memory database management system from SAP

Question 13

An SAP HANA database on AWS is running on an EC2 instance with multiple EBS volumes striped using LVM. The database administrator needs to increase the total storage capacity without downtime. Which approach should be taken? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Add the new volumes to the LVM volume group and extend the logical volume.. LVM (Logical Volume Manager) allows you to add new EBS volumes to an existing volume group and extend the logical volume without unmounting the filesystem or stopping the database. This enables online storage expansion for SAP HANA, which requires zero downtime for production workloads.

Answer

Create a new larger instance and attach the existing volumes.

Answer

Modify the existing volumes to a higher IOPS volume type.

Answer

Take a snapshot of the existing volumes and restore to larger volumes.

Question 14

An SAP environment on AWS uses a shared /sapmnt file system via Amazon EFS. The company wants to encrypt data at rest for the entire stack. Which services require separate encryption configurations?

Accepted Answer

EBS volumes and EFS file system. Amazon EBS volumes and Amazon EFS file systems each require separate encryption configurations because they use distinct encryption mechanisms. EBS uses AWS KMS keys per volume at the block level, while EFS uses a different KMS key configuration at the file system level. Both must be explicitly enabled to achieve full at-rest encryption for the SAP stack.

Answer

Application Load Balancer and EFS

Answer

EFS file system and S3 bucket

Answer

CloudWatch Logs and EBS volumes

Question 15

Which THREE of the following are best practices for securing SAP systems on AWS?

Accepted Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail to log all API calls. AWS CloudTrail logs all API calls made to the AWS environment, including those that modify SAP infrastructure resources such as EC2 instances, security groups, and KMS keys. Enabling CloudTrail is a security best practice because it provides an immutable audit trail for governance, compliance, and operational troubleshooting of SAP workloads on AWS.

Answer

Use IAM users to authenticate SAP system users

Answer

Store SAP system credentials in application source code

Question 16

A company has a large SAP HANA database running on an r5.8xlarge instance. They are planning to migrate to a new instance type that supports more memory for future growth. Which migration approach minimizes downtime and requires no data reload?

Accepted Answer

Stop the instance, change the instance type, and start the instance.. Stopping the instance, changing the instance type, and starting the instance preserves all attached EBS volumes, including the HANA data and log volumes. This approach requires no data backup or restore, minimizing downtime to just the stop/start cycle. Option D is incorrect because SAP HANA data is typically stored on separate EBS volumes (not the root volume), so an EBS snapshot of only the root volume would not capture the HANA data, necessitating a full data reload. Options A and B both involve time-consuming data replication or backup/restore, resulting in more downtime.

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to replicate data to the new instance.

Answer

Perform a full HANA database backup and restore to the new instance.

Answer

Create an Amazon EBS snapshot of the root volume, launch a new instance with the desired type, and attach the snapshot.

Question 17

An SAP system needs to store audit logs for 7 years to meet compliance requirements. The logs are accessed rarely. Which storage class is MOST cost-effective?

Accepted Answer

Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive. S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest cost for long-term archival. Option A is incorrect because S3 Standard is for frequently accessed data. Option C is incorrect because S3 One Zone-IA is for infrequent access but not archival. Option D is incorrect because S3 Intelligent-Tiering incurs monitoring costs and is not as cost-effective for rarely accessed logs over 7 years.

Answer

Amazon S3 Standard

Answer

Amazon S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access

Answer

Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering

Question 18

A company runs its SAP HANA database on a single EC2 instance with EBS storage. The database is critical and the company needs to ensure data durability and recoverability in case of a disaster. Which TWO actions should the company take?

Accepted Answer

Take periodic EBS snapshots and copy them to another region.. Taking periodic EBS snapshots and copying them to another region provides cross-region disaster recovery and data durability. Option C is correct: backing up the HANA database to Amazon S3 provides durable, off-site storage. Option A is incorrect because the database runs on EC2, not RDS, so Multi-AZ for RDS is not applicable. Option D is incorrect because Cross-Region Replication is for S3 buckets, not EBS volumes. Option E is incorrect because HANA System Replication to a different AZ provides high availability within a region, but does not protect against regional disasters; it is not sufficient for disaster recovery.

Answer

Enable Multi-AZ deployment for the HANA database on RDS.

Answer

Use Cross-Region Replication for the EBS volumes.

Answer

Set up HANA System Replication to a secondary instance in a different Availability Zone.

Question 19

Which TWO AWS services can be used to provide shared storage for SAP systems running on multiple EC2 instances?

Accepted Answer

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP provides a fully managed, shared file system with NFS and SMB support, offering features like deduplication and snapshots ideal for SAP clustered deployments. Amazon EFS also provides a shared NFSv4.1 file system accessible from multiple EC2 instances concurrently, making it suitable for SAP workloads that require shared storage. Both services enable shared storage for SAP systems running on multiple instances, while EC2 Instance Store is ephemeral, S3 is object storage, and EBS volumes are single-instance attached.

Answer

EC2 Instance Store

Answer

Amazon S3

Answer

Amazon EBS

Question 20

A company is preparing to migrate its SAP ECC 6.0 system to SAP S/4HANA on AWS. The current on-premises system includes a single application server and a database server running Oracle. The total database size is 1.5 TB. The company plans to use a homogeneous migration approach by exporting the existing Oracle database and importing it into a new SAP HANA database running on AWS. The migration must be completed within a tight weekend window. The company has established a 1 Gbps AWS Direct Connect connection to AWS. Which migration strategy should the company use to minimize downtime?

Accepted Answer

Use the SAP Software Update Manager (SUM) with Database Migration Option (DMO). Perform the migration in a weekend window using the delta replication feature.. SAP Software Update Manager (SUM) with Database Migration Option (DMO) supports a homogeneous migration from Oracle to SAP HANA while performing both the system update and database migration in a single step. The delta replication feature allows initial full load followed by continuous replication of changes, enabling a short downtime window by switching over only after the delta catch-up is complete. This approach is specifically designed for tight migration windows and leverages the 1 Gbps Direct Connect for efficient data transfer.

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to continuously replicate the Oracle database to HANA, and then switch over.

Answer

Use an Application Load Balancer to redirect traffic to the new HANA system after exporting the data to S3.

Answer

Use the SAP HANA Studio migration wizard to export the Oracle database and import it into HANA. This is the simplest method.