PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Test 8 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company runs SAP HANA on AWS and uses AWS Backup to back up the HANA database volumes. The backup job fails with an error indicating that the volume is in use. What is the most likely cause of this failure?

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

Accepted Answer

The volume is attached to an instance and the filesystem is not frozen before snapshot.. The correct option is A: the volume is attached to an instance and the filesystem is not frozen before the snapshot. AWS Backup takes EBS snapshots of attached volumes, but for application-consistent backups of a database like SAP HANA, the filesystem must be frozen (or the application quiesced) so that in-flight writes are flushed and the snapshot is consistent; otherwise the job can fail with a volume-in-use error. Option B is wrong because a missing IAM permission would produce an authorization/access-denied error, not a volume-in-use error. Option C is wrong because missing backup tags would cause the resource to be skipped or not selected by the backup plan, not a volume-in-use failure. Option D is wrong because AWS Backup does not require an AWS Backup agent on the EC2 instance to snapshot EBS volumes.

Answer

The AWS Backup service does not have permission to create snapshots in the account.

Answer

The EBS volume is not tagged with the required backup tags.

Answer

The EC2 instance does not have the AWS Backup agent installed.

Question 2

A company is running SAP ERP on AWS and wants to set up a disaster recovery (DR) strategy using AWS Regions. The DR site must have a copy of the SAP application and database data. Which solution provides the fastest recovery time objective (RTO) with the lowest data loss?

Accepted Answer

Use an RDS Multi-AZ DB cluster with a cross-region read replica.. An RDS Multi-AZ DB cluster with a cross-region read replica provides continuous, asynchronous replication of the database to the DR Region, so the standby copy is nearly current and can be promoted quickly, yielding a low RTO and minimal data loss. This matches the requirement for a DR site with a copy of the SAP database data and the fastest recovery with the least data loss. Option A is not the best fit because SAP HANA system replication across Regions is complex and not the standard AWS-managed DR solution described here. Option B has a high RTO and high potential data loss because daily snapshots only capture data once per day. Option D can replicate changes but is not the native low-RTO DR mechanism for an RDS Multi-AZ cluster with a cross-region read replica.

Answer

Use an EC2 instance with SAP HANA system replication across regions.

Answer

Take daily snapshots of the database and copy them to the DR region. Restore from snapshots during a disaster.

Answer

Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to continuously replicate changes to a database in the DR region.

Question 3

An operations team is troubleshooting a performance issue in an SAP environment where the database server's memory usage is consistently high. The team suspects that the SAP buffer cache is not sized optimally. Which CloudWatch metric should be monitored to confirm this?

Accepted Answer

`FreeableMemory` for the RDS instance. The SAP buffer cache is an in-memory area that stores frequently accessed data to reduce disk I/O. If the buffer cache is undersized, the database must read more from disk, but the cache itself resides in the database server's memory. Monitoring `FreeableMemory` on the RDS instance directly shows how much RAM is available; consistently low freeable memory indicates that the buffer cache (or other memory structures) may be consuming too much or too little, leading to performance issues. Thus, `FreeableMemory` is the key metric to confirm whether memory pressure is due to buffer cache sizing.

Answer

`ReadIOPS` for the RDS instance

Answer

`DatabaseConnections` for the RDS instance

Answer

`SwapUsage` for the RDS instance

Question 4

An SAP administrator needs to grant an external auditor read-only access to view the configuration of all AWS resources in the account. Which IAM policy should be used?

Accepted Answer

ReadOnlyAccess. ReadOnlyAccess is an AWS managed policy that grants read-only access to all AWS services and resources in the account, which is exactly what an external auditor needs to view configuration without making changes. It is the broadest read-only managed policy AWS provides and is designed for this use case.

Answer

AdministratorAccess

Answer

PowerUserAccess

Answer

ViewOnlyAccess

Question 5

A company runs SAP HANA on AWS and wants to implement a backup strategy that ensures point-in-time recovery (PITR) with minimal data loss. Which TWO AWS services should be used?

Accepted Answer

AWS Backup. AWS Backup (B) is correct because it provides a centralized, policy-driven backup service that supports SAP HANA on AWS, including application-consistent backups and point-in-time recovery capabilities, allowing you to define backup plans with retention and lifecycle rules to minimize data loss. Amazon EBS snapshots (E) are correct because SAP HANA data and log volumes typically reside on EBS, and EBS snapshots capture point-in-time block-level copies of those volumes that can be used to restore the database to a specific point in time, especially when combined with HANA log backups. Amazon S3 (A) is not the primary service for enabling PITR of SAP HANA; it is used for storing backup files, but it does not itself provide the snapshot or application-consistent recovery mechanism required here. AWS Storage Gateway (C) is a hybrid storage service for integrating on-premises environments with AWS storage, not a backup/PITR solution for SAP HANA on AWS. Amazon RDS (D) is a managed relational database service and does not support running SAP HANA, so it cannot be used for this scenario.

Answer

Amazon S3

Answer

AWS Storage Gateway

Answer

Amazon RDS

Question 6

Refer to the exhibit. An IAM policy is attached to a role used by an EC2 instance running SAP. The instance is unable to start or stop other EC2 instances. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The policy resource ARN specifies a specific region (us-east-1), but the instances are in a different region.. IAM policy resource ARNs that specify a region (e.g., us-east-1) only permit actions against resources in that region. If the EC2 instances the SAP application needs to start or stop reside in a different region, the policy will deny the action even though the action itself is allowed.

Answer

The policy does not allow `ec2:RebootInstances` which is required to start instances.

Answer

The policy does not include `iam:PassRole` permission.

Answer

The policy does not include `ec2:DescribeInstances` for instances in other regions.

Question 7

Refer to the exhibit. An SAP administrator runs the AWS CLI command to retrieve the DatabaseConnections metric for an RDS for SAP ASE instance. The output shows a Sum statistic over 5-minute periods. What is the average number of connections per minute during this hour?

Accepted Answer

10. The Sum statistic over 5-minute periods aggregates the total DatabaseConnections across each 5-minute window. If the hourly total is 600 connections summed across 60 minutes, the average per minute is 600 / 60 = 10 connections per minute.

Answer

545

Answer

50

Answer

52

Question 8

An SAP system on AWS experiences intermittent performance degradation during peak hours. CloudWatch metrics show high CPU utilization on the application server but normal on the database server. The application server is an m5.2xlarge instance. Which action should the operations team take FIRST to diagnose the issue?

Accepted Answer

Change the application server instance type to a compute-optimized instance like c5.4xlarge.. The application server shows high CPU utilization while the database server is normal, indicating the bottleneck is CPU on the application tier. The m5.2xlarge is a general-purpose instance with 8 vCPUs; switching to a compute-optimized c5.4xlarge provides 16 vCPUs with a higher CPU-to-memory ratio and better single-thread performance, directly addressing the CPU saturation. This is the first diagnostic step because it tests whether CPU is the limiting factor without altering the database or network layers.

Answer

Increase the provisioned IOPS on the database server's EBS volumes.

Answer

Increase the network bandwidth of the application server.

Answer

Scale out the application tier by adding more application servers behind a load balancer.

Question 9

A company is running SAP on AWS and wants to automate the patching of SAP application servers. The servers are behind an Auto Scaling group. Which AWS service is BEST suited to apply OS patches without downtime?

Accepted Answer

AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager. AWS Systems Manager Patch Manager automates the process of patching operating systems and applications across EC2 instances, including those in Auto Scaling groups. It uses patch baselines and maintenance windows to apply patches without downtime by rolling updates and leveraging Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks. It integrates with AWS Systems Manager Inventory and Compliance for reporting.

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

AWS CloudFormation

Answer

AWS OpsWorks

Question 10

An IAM policy is attached to an IAM role used by an SAP system to perform backups. The policy is shown above. The SAP system can successfully list EC2 instances but fails to start or stop them. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The EC2 instances are in a different AWS account, and cross-account access is not configured.. The policy grants ec2:DescribeInstances (which is why listing works) but the instances being targeted live in a different AWS account. IAM policies attached to a role in Account A only authorize actions on resources owned by Account A unless a resource-based policy or an assumed role in the target account explicitly grants access. Cross-account EC2 start/stop requires either a role in the target account that the SAP system assumes, or resource-level permissions via ec2:ResourceTag conditions combined with a trust relationship.

Answer

The S3 bucket permissions are missing; the backup process requires S3 access first.

Answer

The policy does not include the ec2:DescribeInstanceStatus action.

Answer

The IAM policy is attached to the role, but the role is not associated with an instance profile.

Question 11

A company wants to monitor the disk space utilization of their SAP application servers. Which AWS service can provide a centralized view of disk space metrics without installing additional agents?

Accepted Answer

AWS Systems Manager Inventory. AWS Systems Manager Inventory collects metadata about your managed instances, including installed applications, network configuration, and disk usage, and aggregates it in a central location without requiring a separate monitoring agent beyond the SSM Agent that is typically already present. It provides the centralized disk space view the question asks for. CloudWatch by itself does not collect disk space metrics from the OS without the CloudWatch agent installed.

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch

Answer

AWS CloudTrail

Answer

Amazon Inspector

Question 12

An SAP application server repeatedly logs the error: "SQL statement not parsed before execution." The database is an Oracle RDS instance. What is the most likely cause of this error?

Accepted Answer

The database connection is not properly established, or the session is in a bad state.. The error about a SQL statement not being parsed before execution typically indicates a problem with the database connection or session state, which aligns with option B. Option A (misconfigured application server) would not directly cause this specific error. Option C (network connectivity) would manifest as timeout or connection failure, not a parsing error. Option D (out of memory) would cause different errors like ORA-04031. Therefore, the most likely cause is that the database connection is not properly established or the session is in a bad state.

Answer

The SAP application server is misconfigured.

Answer

There is a network connectivity issue between the application server and the database.

Answer

The Oracle database is out of memory.

Question 13

Which TWO actions should be taken to improve the high availability of a single-instance SAP HANA database running on EC2? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Set up HANA System Replication to a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone.. Option A is correct because HANA System Replication (HSR) to a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone provides a standby replica that can take over if the primary fails, directly improving high availability for a single-instance SAP HANA deployment on EC2. Option E is correct because automated EBS snapshots of the HANA data volumes provide point-in-time backups that enable recovery from data corruption or volume failure, which supports availability by reducing recovery time and data loss. Option B is incorrect because Multi-AZ is an Amazon RDS feature and cannot be enabled for SAP HANA running on EC2. Option C is incorrect because Amazon FSx for Lustre is a high-performance file system for workloads such as HPC, not a high-availability mechanism for HANA data files. Option D is incorrect because increasing the instance size improves performance or capacity, not availability, and does not address failover or recovery.

Answer

Enable Multi-AZ on the RDS instance.

Answer

Move the HANA data files to Amazon FSx for Lustre.

Answer

Increase the instance size to a larger type.

Question 14

An administrator deploys the CloudFormation stack above. The EC2 instance launches but the s3fs mount fails. Which TWO actions are needed to fix the issue? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Create an IAM role with permissions to access the S3 bucket and attach it to the EC2 instance.. Option A is correct because s3fs authenticates to S3 using AWS credentials, and the standard way to grant an EC2 instance those credentials is an IAM role whose policy allows the required S3 actions (e.g., s3:GetObject, s3:ListBucket) on the target bucket. Option B is correct because an IAM role alone does nothing for an instance; the role must be delivered through an instance profile, and in CloudFormation this is done by setting the IamInstanceProfile property on the AWS::EC2::Instance resource (referencing an AWS::IAM::InstanceProfile). Without the instance profile, the instance never receives temporary credentials, so s3fs cannot sign requests and the mount fails. Option C is not needed because security groups are stateful and allow return traffic, and outbound HTTPS (port 443) to S3 is permitted by default unless explicitly restricted. Option D is not required because s3fs can mount buckets in any region by specifying the endpoint, and S3 bucket names are globally unique rather than region-bound for access. Option E is not the fix because UserData already runs as root by default, so adding sudo would not resolve a missing-credentials problem.

Answer

Modify the security group to allow outbound HTTPS traffic.

Answer

Ensure the S3 bucket is in the same region as the EC2 instance.

Answer

Add 'sudo' before the s3fs command in the UserData script.

Question 15

A company runs a critical SAP S/4HANA system on AWS. The system uses an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS storage. The operations team receives an alert that the database is running out of disk space on the /hana/data volume. The current configuration uses a single 2 TB gp2 EBS volume for /hana/data, which is 85% full. The team needs to resolve the immediate space issue and also plan for future growth. The database is in production and cannot tolerate downtime. The team has enabled Multi-Attach on the volume. Which course of action should the team take?

Accepted Answer

Attach an additional EBS volume, create a logical volume spanning both volumes, and extend the filesystem without downtime.. It allows adding a second EBS volume to the instance and creating a logical volume spanning both volumes, then extending the filesystem online without downtime. This is a common approach for increasing space on SAP HANA data volumes without downtime. Option A is incorrect because Amazon EFS has higher latency and is not suitable for SAP HANA database data, which requires high throughput and low latency. Option B is incorrect because although Elastic Volumes allows resizing online, the existing volume is gp2 and resizing to 4 TB is possible, but the question emphasizes planning for future growth, and adding another volume provides more flexibility. Option D is incorrect because taking an EBS snapshot requires quiescing the database, which would incur downtime.

Answer

Migrate the data to Amazon EFS and mount it to the EC2 instance.

Answer

Use the Elastic Volumes feature to modify the size of the existing volume to 4 TB while the instance is running.

Answer

Take an EBS snapshot of the volume, create a larger volume from the snapshot, and attach it to the instance.