PAS-C01 Mock Exam 88 — 25 Questions

Question 1

An SAP system is deployed on AWS using an Auto Scaling group of EC2 instances for the SAP application server layer. The application servers are stateless. The company wants to ensure that when a new instance is launched, it automatically registers with the SAP Web Dispatcher. The Web Dispatcher is configured with an Application Load Balancer (ALB). What is the best way to achieve automatic registration?

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

Accepted Answer

Attach the Auto Scaling group to an ALB target group.. Attaching the Auto Scaling group directly to an ALB target group ensures that any instance launched by the Auto Scaling group is automatically registered with the ALB. Since the SAP Web Dispatcher is configured behind the ALB, this automatically registers the instance with the Web Dispatcher. Option C is incorrect because user data scripts can be used for initial configuration, but relying on them for registration is less reliable and does not integrate with the ALB's health checks. Option A is incorrect because using CloudWatch Events and Lambda adds unnecessary complexity and latency. Option B is incorrect because AWS Systems Manager State Manager is designed for maintaining consistent state, not for immediate registration upon launch.

Answer

Use Amazon CloudWatch Events to trigger an AWS Lambda function that registers the instance.

Answer

Use AWS Systems Manager State Manager to run a registration script on the instance.

Answer

Configure the EC2 instance's user data to run a script that registers with the Web Dispatcher.

Question 2

An SAP system on AWS is experiencing slow performance for batch jobs. The jobs are I/O intensive and write large amounts of data to EBS volumes. CloudWatch metrics show that the EBS volumes are reaching their throughput limits. Which action will MOST effectively improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Increase the size of the EBS volumes to improve baseline throughput.. Increasing the size of EBS volumes directly improves their baseline throughput performance because EBS throughput scales with volume size. For gp2 volumes, baseline throughput is 128 MiB/s for volumes up to 170 GiB, then increases by 0.5 MiB/s per GiB beyond that; for gp3, baseline throughput is 125 MiB/s regardless of size, but you can provision additional throughput. Since the batch jobs are I/O-intensive and hitting throughput limits, larger volumes provide higher throughput without requiring architectural changes.

Answer

Add read replicas to offload read traffic.

Answer

Use Multi-AZ for the database.

Answer

Move the data to instance store volumes.

Question 3

Refer to the exhibit. An SAP application load balancer (ALB) is configured with the CloudFormation snippet. The ALB is not distributing traffic to the EC2 instances. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The target group is not associated with the load balancer. The snippet does not include a listener for the ALB. Without a listener, the ALB cannot accept traffic. The target group is defined but not associated with the ALB via a listener rule. The scheme is internet-facing, which is correct. The security group may allow traffic, but no listener exists.

Answer

The security group does not allow inbound traffic

Answer

The target type is instance but the instances are not registered

Answer

The load balancer scheme is internet-facing but instances are in private subnets

Question 4

A company plans to migrate a 10 TB on-premises SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. The migration must be completed within a 4-hour window. The network bandwidth is 1 Gbps. Which migration approach should they choose?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Snowball Edge to transfer data and then perform a cutover. AWS SCT only converts schema, not data; export/import via native tools would still need to transfer the full 10 TB over the internet, which at 1 Gbps takes ~22 hours, far exceeding the 4-hour window. Option B is incorrect because DMS over the internet is limited by the 1 Gbps bandwidth, resulting in a transfer time of ~22 hours, too slow. Option C is incorrect because while Direct Connect provides a dedicated connection, it still has a 1 Gbps bandwidth limit, so the transfer would still take ~22 hours, exceeding the window. Option D is correct because AWS Snowball Edge physically ships the data, bypassing network bandwidth limitations, and allows a fast cutover.

Answer

Use AWS SCT to convert schema and then export/import via native tools

Answer

Use AWS DMS over the internet

Answer

Set up an AWS Direct Connect connection and use DMS

Question 5

A company is migrating a large SAP ERP system to AWS. The system has multiple interfaces with external systems using RFC connections. During the migration, the team needs to minimize changes to the external systems' configurations. What approach should be taken for the RFC connections?

Accepted Answer

Assign an Elastic IP address to the SAP application server. Assigning an Elastic IP address to the SAP application server ensures that the public IP address remains the same after migration, so external systems do not need to update their RFC connection configurations. Option A (changing external systems to use DNS names) would require changes to external systems, which contradicts the goal of minimizing changes. Option B (using the private IP) would not be reachable from external systems over the internet. Option C (NAT Gateway) is used for outbound traffic, not for inbound RFC connections. Option D (Elastic IP) correctly provides a static public IP address for inbound RFC traffic.

Answer

Change the external systems to use DNS names instead of IP addresses

Answer

Use the private IP address of the EC2 instance

Answer

Use a NAT Gateway to route the RFC traffic

Question 6

A company plans to migrate their SAP HANA database to AWS. They require the highest availability with automatic failover in case of an AZ failure. Which architecture should they use?

Accepted Answer

Multi-AZ with HANA System Replication in sync mode and automatic failover.. It meets the requirement for highest availability with automatic failover in case of an AZ failure. HANA System Replication (HSR) in synchronous mode ensures zero data loss (RPO=0) by committing transactions only after they are replicated to the standby, and when combined with Multi-AZ deployment, it provides automatic failover across Availability Zones. This architecture is the AWS-recommended pattern for SAP HANA high availability, leveraging the AWS Multi-AZ concept with HSR's built-in automatic takeover capability.

Answer

Single AZ with HANA System Replication to a standby in the same AZ.

Answer

Single AZ with daily backups to Amazon S3.

Answer

Multi-AZ with HANA System Replication in async mode and manual failover.

Question 7

A company is migrating its SAP HANA database to AWS. The SAP HANA database requires high throughput and low latency for data persistence. Which AWS storage solution should be used for the HANA data volume to meet performance requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1 or io2) EBS volumes for the data volume.. SAP HANA is an in-memory database that relies on persistent storage for data volume writes during savepoints and log writes. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1 or io2) EBS volumes deliver consistent, low-latency performance with configurable IOPS, which is required to meet SAP HANA's strict throughput and latency SLAs. AWS specifically certifies io1/io2 EBS volumes for SAP HANA data volumes in production environments.

Answer

Use Amazon FSx for Lustre as primary persistent storage for HANA data.

Answer

Use General Purpose SSD (gp2) EBS volumes for the data volume.

Answer

Use Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) EBS volumes for the data volume.

Question 8

An SAP system on AWS is experiencing high latency in database transactions. The SAP HANA database is running on an r5.24xlarge instance with GP3 EBS volumes. CloudWatch metrics show high Write IOPS but low Read IOPS. The application team expects high write throughput. What should be changed to improve write performance?

Accepted Answer

Switch to io2 Block Express volumes with higher IOPS. The workload requires high write throughput, and GP3 volumes have a baseline IOPS of 16,000 with a maximum of 16,000 IOPS at no additional cost, but burst credits are limited. io2 Block Express volumes offer up to 256,000 IOPS with consistent sub-millisecond latency, which directly addresses the high write IOPS demand without throttling. This aligns with SAP HANA's requirement for predictable, high-performance storage for database transactions.

Answer

Increase the EBS read throughput

Answer

Use a larger instance type like r6i.32xlarge

Answer

Increase the GP3 volume IOPS

Question 9

Which THREE factors must be considered when choosing an EC2 instance type for SAP HANA production workloads?

Accepted Answer

EBS-optimized support for consistent I/O. SAP HANA is an in-memory database that requires consistent, low-latency I/O for data persistence and log writes. EBS-optimized instances dedicate network bandwidth to EBS traffic, eliminating contention with other network traffic and ensuring predictable I/O performance, which is critical for production SAP HANA workloads.

Answer

Burstable CPU performance (T3 instances)

Answer

GPU compute capability

Question 10

A manufacturing company is planning to migrate a legacy inventory application from a data center to AWS. The application runs on Windows Server 2012 R2 and uses a SQL Server 2014 database. The application requires low-latency access to a shared file system for storing CAD drawings. The current on-premises environment uses a SAN-based storage array for the database and a Windows File Server for the CAD files. The company wants to minimize operational overhead and avoid refactoring the application. The migration must be completed within 3 months. The company has already established a Direct Connect connection between the data center and AWS. Which migration strategy should the company use?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) to replicate the on-premises Windows server to an EC2 instance. Migrate the SQL Server database using native backup and restore. Use Amazon FSx for Windows File Server to replace the on-premises file server, and mount the file share via SMB.. It uses AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) to lift-and-shift the Windows Server 2012 R2 instance without refactoring, native backup/restore for SQL Server 2014 to minimize complexity, and Amazon FSx for Windows File Server to provide a fully managed SMB file share with low-latency access for CAD drawings. This approach meets the 3-month timeline, avoids application refactoring, and reduces operational overhead by replacing the SAN and Windows File Server with managed AWS services.

Answer

Use AWS App2Container to containerize the Windows application and deploy it on Amazon ECS. Migrate the database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. Use Amazon EFS for the CAD file share.

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to migrate the SQL Server database to Amazon RDS for SQL Server. Use AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) to replicate the Windows server to an EC2 instance. Use AWS Storage Gateway file gateway to present the CAD files from Amazon S3.

Answer

Use AWS Application Migration Service (AWS MGN) to replicate the Windows server to an EC2 instance. Migrate the SQL Server database using native backup and restore. Use Amazon S3 with a VPC endpoint for the CAD file share, and mount S3 as a network drive using an S3 file gateway.

Question 11

A company is migrating its SAP environment to AWS and wants to ensure that the migration complies with SAP's software licensing requirements. What is the most important consideration regarding SAP license mobility?

Accepted Answer

Confirm that the SAP license agreement allows running on AWS and that the target instance types are SAP certified. SAP license mobility allows customers to run their existing SAP licenses on AWS, but only if the license agreement explicitly permits it. Additionally, the target AWS instance types must be SAP certified to ensure compliance with SAP's technical requirements. Option D is correct because it addresses both contractual and technical prerequisites. Option A is incorrect because Amazon RDS does not support SAP BYOL; SAP databases on AWS use EC2. Option B is incorrect because linking AWS account to SAP's portal is not a licensing requirement. Option C is incorrect because purchasing a new license from AWS Marketplace is not necessary for license mobility.

Answer

Use SAP's Bring Your Own License (BYOL) program for Amazon RDS

Answer

Ensure that the AWS account is linked to SAP's licensing portal

Answer

Purchase a new SAP license from the AWS Marketplace

Question 12

Which THREE of the following are best practices for operating an SAP HANA database on AWS in a production environment?

Accepted Answer

Ensure the EC2 instance is EBS-optimized.. EBS-optimized instances provide dedicated bandwidth for EBS, which is essential for HANA workloads. Option C is correct because separating data and log files onto different EBS volumes is a best practice recommended by SAP to improve performance and manageability. Option E is correct because using multiple EBS volumes striped with LVM or RAID 0 aggregates IOPS and throughput, providing the high performance required for production HANA databases. Option A is incorrect because configuring a swap partition on the instance store is not recommended for HANA; HANA relies on memory and swap usage is discouraged. Option D is incorrect because using a single large EBS volume for both data and logs can lead to performance bottlenecks and is not a best practice.

Answer

Configure a swap partition on the instance store.

Answer

Use a single large EBS volume for both data and logs to simplify management.

Question 13

An SAP Basis administrator needs to monitor the health of SAP application servers running on EC2. The administrator wants to receive alerts when a server becomes unreachable or when critical SAP processes stop. Which AWS service should be used to create a custom dashboard and set up alarms?

Accepted Answer

Amazon CloudWatch. CloudWatch can monitor EC2 instances and create alarms based on custom metrics, including process status. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail is for auditing API calls. Option C is wrong because Config is for resource compliance. Option D is wrong because Trusted Advisor provides best-practice checks but not custom monitoring.

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

AWS Trusted Advisor

Question 14

An SAP system on AWS is experiencing performance degradation. Amazon CloudWatch metrics show high CPU utilization on the application server, but the database server (RDS) metrics are normal. The application team suspects a memory leak. Which action should the operations team take FIRST to confirm the issue?

Accepted Answer

Install the CloudWatch agent on the application server and enable memory metrics.. CloudWatch cannot see inside the OS without the CloudWatch agent. Installing the agent and collecting memory metrics is the first step to confirm a memory leak. Option A is wrong because CloudWatch does not provide memory metrics by default. Option C is wrong because rebooting is disruptive and does not help diagnose. Option D is wrong because switching to a larger instance is a reactive fix, not diagnostic.

Answer

Review the existing CloudWatch CPU utilization and memory metrics for the application server.

Answer

Reboot the application server and monitor performance after reboot.

Answer

Increase the instance size of the application server to handle the load.

Question 15

An SAP administrator wants to automate the creation of a DR environment for SAP HANA on AWS. The DR site should be in a different region and must be started only during a disaster. Which AWS service should be used to orchestrate the DR process?

Accepted Answer

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) to replicate and orchestrate failover.. AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) is the correct service because it provides continuous block-level replication for SAP HANA servers and includes built-in orchestration for failover and failback. This allows the DR environment to remain stopped until a disaster occurs, minimizing costs while ensuring rapid recovery.

Answer

AWS Systems Manager Automation to run DR scripts.

Answer

AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy the environment in the DR region.

Answer

Amazon S3 Cross-Region Replication to replicate SAP application data.

Question 16

Which TWO of the following are best practices for securing an SAP HANA database on AWS? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Deploy the HANA instance in a private subnet without direct internet access.. Deploying the HANA instance in a private subnet without direct internet access ensures that the database is not exposed to the public internet, reducing the attack surface. This follows the AWS security best practice of using private subnets for sensitive workloads, with access only through bastion hosts or VPN/Direct Connect. It also aligns with SAP's own security recommendations for HANA deployments.

Answer

Disable SSL/TLS for client connections to improve performance.

Answer

Use a single Availability Zone to simplify network security group management.

Answer

Assign a public IP address to the HANA instance for easy access from the internet.

Question 17

A company runs a production EC2 instance that experiences intermittent connectivity issues. The instance is part of an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer. Which step should be taken FIRST to diagnose the issue?

Accepted Answer

Review CloudWatch metrics for the instance and the ALB target group. Reviewing CloudWatch metrics for the instance and the ALB target group is the correct first step because it provides immediate visibility into the root cause of intermittent connectivity issues. Metrics such as TargetResponseTime, RequestCount, and HealthyHostCount can reveal whether the problem is due to high latency, request failures, or the instance being marked unhealthy by the ALB health checks. This data-driven approach avoids unnecessary changes and aligns with the AWS Well-Architected Framework's principle of observability.

Answer

Modify the security group to allow all traffic temporarily

Answer

Terminate the instance and let Auto Scaling launch a new one

Answer

Attach an additional Elastic Network Interface (ENI) to the instance

Question 18

An SAP system administrator is troubleshooting a high CPU usage issue on an SAP application server (AS) running on an EC2 instance. The administrator suspects that a specific ABAP report is consuming excessive resources. Which AWS service can provide detailed CPU utilization metrics at the process level to confirm the suspicion?

Accepted Answer

Amazon CloudWatch agent with the 'procstat' plugin. The Amazon CloudWatch agent with the 'procstat' plugin can collect CPU and memory utilization metrics at the individual process level, including specific ABAP processes or reports by name or PID. This allows the administrator to confirm which ABAP report is causing high CPU usage on the EC2 instance running the SAP application server.

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

AWS Systems Manager Inventory

Answer

AWS Compute Optimizer

Question 19

Which TWO are best practices for designing high availability for SAP NetWeaver on AWS? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Deploy SAP ASCS and PAS instances in separate Availability Zones.. Deploying SAP ASCS (ABAP SAP Central Services) and PAS (Primary Application Server) instances in separate Availability Zones ensures that if one AZ fails, the other can continue processing, providing high availability. This aligns with AWS best practices for SAP NetWeaver, which recommend distributing critical SAP components across AZs to achieve a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of minutes and a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of near-zero using SAP enqueue replication and failover mechanisms.

Answer

Use T2 or T3 burstable instances for cost savings.

Answer

Use EBS Multi-Attach volumes for the SAP application data.

Answer

Configure multiple Application Load Balancers in a failover configuration.

Question 20

A company is migrating its SAP production system to AWS and needs to ensure that the migration does not exceed the allowed downtime window of 4 hours. The source database is 5 TB. Which migration strategy should be used?

Accepted Answer

Heterogeneous migration using AWS DMS with ongoing replication. Heterogeneous migration using AWS DMS with ongoing replication allows near-zero downtime by continuously replicating changes from the source to the target database during the migration, enabling a short cutover window. Option A is incorrect because homogeneous migration using AWS SCT and DMS is typically for same-database-engine migrations, but SCT is unnecessary for homogeneous, and the combination may not achieve the 4-hour window without ongoing replication. Option C is incorrect because AWS Snowball Edge is an offline data transfer method that involves shipping physical devices, which takes days to transfer 5 TB, exceeding the 4-hour window. Option D is incorrect because AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) is designed for server migration (rehosting), not database migration, and does not provide the database-level replication needed for this scenario.

Answer

Homogeneous migration using AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) and AWS DMS

Answer

AWS Snowball Edge for offline data transfer

Answer

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) replication