PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Test 26 — 15 Questions

Question 1

An SAP administrator is troubleshooting an issue where the SAP system is not responding. The administrator checks the AWS Management Console and finds that the EC2 instance status checks are failing. Which three actions should the administrator take to recover the instance? (Choose THREE.)

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

Accepted Answer

Check the system logs for errors. The administrator should first check the system logs (Option B) to gather diagnostic information about the failure. Rebooting the instance (Option D) can resolve transient issues without losing instance state. If the issue persists, stopping and starting the instance (Option E) migrates it to new underlying hardware, which can fix hardware-related failures. Changing the instance type (Option A) does not address hardware issues causing status checks to fail. Attaching a new EBS volume (Option C) does not help with instance health issues.

Answer

Change the instance type

Answer

Attach a new EBS volume

Question 2

A company is planning to run SAP HANA on AWS. Which three are best practices for configuring the EC2 instance for SAP HANA? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Enable CPU hyper-threading. (Enable CPU hyper-threading) is correct. For SAP HANA, hyper-threading is enabled by default and recommended for production workloads as it improves performance. Option C (Use EBS-optimized instances) is correct because EBS-optimized instances provide dedicated throughput between EC2 and EBS, ensuring consistent storage performance for HANA data and log volumes. Option E (Use placement groups for HANA instances) is correct. Placement groups enable low-latency, high-throughput networking between instances in the same group, which is critical for HANA scale-out or HA setups. Option B (Use burstable instance types (T2/T3)) is incorrect because burstable instances rely on CPU credits and are not designed for sustained high CPU utilization; they are not suitable for production HANA workloads. Option D (Allocate swap space on the instance) is incorrect because SAP HANA relies on in-memory processing and swap space is not recommended; it can degrade performance and is typically disabled.

Answer

Use burstable instance types (T2/T3)

Answer

Allocate swap space on the instance

Question 3

An SAP administrator attaches this IAM policy to a user. The user is unable to start an EC2 instance with ID i-0abcdef1234567890. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The IAM policy is applied to a user who is working in a different AWS region than the one specified in the resource ARN.. The IAM policy likely includes a resource ARN that specifies a region (e.g., us-east-1). IAM policies with resource ARNs that include a region only apply to resources in that region. If the user is attempting to start the EC2 instance in a different region (e.g., eu-west-1), the policy does not grant permission, even though it includes ec2:StartInstances. Option B correctly identifies this region mismatch as the most likely cause. Options A, C, and D are incorrect because the policy does include the necessary actions for starting an instance.

Answer

The IAM policy does not include the ec2:RebootInstances action.

Answer

The IAM policy does not include the ec2:DescribeInstances action.

Answer

The IAM policy does not include the ec2:StartInstances action.

Question 4

A company runs an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The operations team needs to ensure that snapshots of the database volumes are consistent. Which step should be taken before initiating the EBS snapshot?

Accepted Answer

Use hdbsql to execute BACKUP DATA FULL USING FILE ('/backup/snapshot_prep'). Running hdbsql with BACKUP DATA and USING FILE creates a snapshot-consistent backup. Option B is wrong because 'sync' only flushes OS buffers but does not guarantee HANA consistency. Option C is wrong because stopping HANA is excessive. Option D is wrong because EBS snapshots alone do not ensure application consistency.

Answer

Run the Linux 'sync' command on the instance

Answer

Stop the HANA database service

Answer

Create the EBS snapshot directly without any preparation

Question 5

An SAP system uses a shared file system mounted via EFS from multiple EC2 instances. The operations team notices that the file system is not performing well during peak loads. What is the most effective way to improve throughput without changing the application?

Accepted Answer

Change the EFS performance mode from General Purpose to Max I/O. Changing the EFS performance mode from General Purpose to Max I/O increases throughput for parallel workloads, improving performance without modifying the application. Option A (Provisioned Throughput) provides consistent throughput but does not change performance mode. Option B (EBS Multi-Attach) is not suitable for high-throughput shared file systems due to limited concurrent access and throughput constraints. Option C (FSx for Lustre) is designed for HPC and not typically aligned with SAP shared storage requirements.

Answer

Enable Provisioned Throughput on the EFS file system

Answer

Replace EFS with an EBS Multi-Attach volume

Answer

Migrate the file system to Amazon FSx for Lustre

Question 6

An SAP administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an EC2 instance running SAP HANA. Which AWS service should be used to set an alarm when CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 minutes?

Accepted Answer

Amazon CloudWatch. Amazon CloudWatch (Option D) is the correct answer because it is the AWS monitoring service that can create alarms on EC2 metrics such as CPUUtilization. When the CPU utilization exceeds a threshold (e.g., 90%) for a specified duration (e.g., 5 minutes), CloudWatch can trigger an alarm and notify via SNS. Option A (AWS CloudTrail) is incorrect because it records API activity, not performance metrics. Option B (AWS Trusted Advisor) is incorrect because it provides best practice recommendations, not real-time monitoring or alarms. Option C (AWS Config) is incorrect because it tracks resource configuration changes, not operational metrics.

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

AWS Trusted Advisor

Answer

AWS Config

Question 7

A company has an SAP landscape with multiple instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The operations team needs to ensure that the ALB targets are deregistered before an instance is terminated during a patching activity. Which AWS service can automate this?

Accepted Answer

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks can automatically deregister instances from an Application Load Balancer before termination. Option B is incorrect because AWS Systems Manager State Manager is used to maintain consistent configuration of instances, not for target deregistration. Option C is incorrect because AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a platform for deploying web applications, not for managing ALB target deregistration for SAP. Option D is incorrect because AWS Lambda is a compute service that can be used as a target for lifecycle hooks, but the service that inherently provides the lifecycle hook mechanism is Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling.

Answer

AWS Systems Manager State Manager

Answer

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Answer

AWS Lambda

Question 8

During an SAP system refresh, the operations team needs to restore an SAP HANA database from an S3 backup to a new EC2 instance. The backup was created using SAP HANA Backint. Which AWS service is required to read the backup from S3?

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA Backint agent for Amazon S3. SAP HANA Backint agent for Amazon S3. When a backup is created using SAP HANA Backint, the Backint agent is the component that integrates with Amazon S3 to read the backup data. It provides a certified interface for SAP HANA to directly access S3. Option A is incorrect because Amazon EBS snapshots are block-level backups and are not used with Backint. Option B is incorrect because AWS Backup offers SAP HANA backup support but uses its own backup method, not the Backint interface. Option C is incorrect because AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service and is not designed for Backint operations.

Answer

Amazon EBS snapshots

Answer

AWS Backup

Answer

AWS Storage Gateway

Question 9

An SAP administrator needs to review API calls made by a user who accidentally deleted an S3 bucket used for SAP backups. Which AWS service provides a record of these API calls?

Accepted Answer

AWS CloudTrail. AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to the AWS environment, including S3 bucket deletion events. When a user accidentally deletes an S3 bucket, CloudTrail captures the event details such as the user identity, source IP, and timestamp, enabling the SAP administrator to audit the action. This is essential for security analysis and operational troubleshooting in the context of SAP backups.

Answer

Amazon S3 server access logs

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch Logs

Answer

AWS Config

Question 10

A company uses SAP NetWeaver with an Oracle database on EC2. The operations team wants to automate the patching of the operating system while ensuring minimal downtime. Which AWS Systems Manager capability should be used?

Accepted Answer

AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager. (AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager) is correct because it automates OS patching with scheduling and maintenance windows, minimizing downtime for SAP NetWeaver on EC2. Option A (Automation) is for running predefined workflows, not specifically for patching. Option B (Run Command) is for ad-hoc command execution, not automated patching. Option C (OpsCenter) is for managing operational issues, not patching.

Answer

AWS Systems Manager Automation

Answer

AWS Systems Manager Run Command

Answer

AWS Systems Manager OpsCenter

Question 11

An SAP HANA database on EC2 is experiencing high swap usage. The system administrator suspects that the memory configuration is insufficient. Which CloudWatch metric should be monitored to confirm this?

Accepted Answer

SwapUsage. High swap usage indicates memory pressure, and SwapUsage is a custom metric that can be monitored via the CloudWatch agent. It is not a default EC2 metric. Option A (NetworkOut) measures network traffic, not memory. Option B (DiskWriteOps) measures disk I/O, not memory. Option D (MemoryUtilization) is also a custom metric that measures memory usage, but swap usage directly indicates insufficient memory.

Answer

NetworkOut

Answer

DiskWriteOps

Answer

MemoryUtilization

Question 12

An SAP administrator needs to ensure that an EC2 instance hosting SAP HANA is rebooted automatically after a hardware failure. Which AWS feature provides this capability?

Accepted Answer

EC2 Auto Recovery. EC2 Auto Recovery is the correct AWS feature because it automatically recovers an EC2 instance when a hardware failure on the underlying physical host is detected. For SAP HANA workloads, this ensures the instance is rebooted on a healthy host without manual intervention, maintaining high availability for critical database operations.

Answer

Placement group

Answer

Auto Scaling group

Answer

Elastic IP address

Question 13

Which TWO tasks require the use of AWS Systems Manager Session Manager? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Execute a one-time command on an EC2 instance interactively. Options B and C are correct. Session Manager allows you to execute one-time commands interactively on an EC2 instance (B) and establish a secure shell session without requiring SSH keys (C). Option A is incorrect because file transfers are not a direct feature of Session Manager; it can be used to tunnel SCP but not directly transfer files. Option D is incorrect because storing secrets is done via AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store, not Session Manager. Option E is incorrect because patching is typically done via Systems Manager Patch Manager, not Session Manager.

Answer

Transfer files between on-premises and AWS

Answer

Store database connection strings securely

Answer

Apply operating system patches to a fleet of EC2 instances

Question 14

Which THREE are valid steps when performing a cross-Region disaster recovery failover for SAP HANA using AWS? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Start the SAP HANA database on the secondary instance. Starting the SAP HANA database on the secondary instance is a required step during a cross-Region disaster recovery failover. After promoting the secondary system replication target to primary, the SAP HANA database must be started to make it available for client connections and resume operations.

Answer

Create an EBS snapshot of the primary database volume

Answer

Stop the SAP HANA database on the primary instance

Question 15

Which TWO services can be used to centrally manage and enforce backup policies for SAP systems on AWS? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager. Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) automates the creation, retention, and deletion of EBS snapshots and EBS-backed AMIs. For SAP systems, you can use DLM to enforce backup policies for the underlying EBS volumes (e.g., /usr/sap, /sapmnt, data volumes) by scheduling snapshots and applying retention rules. AWS Backup provides a centralized, policy-based backup service that supports SAP HANA databases (via Backint integration) and EC2 instances, enabling you to define backup plans, assign resources, and enforce compliance across your SAP landscape.

Answer

AWS CloudFormation

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

Amazon S3