PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Test 3 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company is planning to migrate its SAP HANA database to AWS. They need to ensure high availability with automatic failover. Which AWS service should they use to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

AWS Launch Wizard for SAP. AWS Launch Wizard for SAP is the correct service because it automates the deployment of SAP HANA on AWS with built-in high availability and automatic failover configurations. It orchestrates the setup of a multi-AZ cluster, including the installation of SAP HANA system replication, the configuration of a Pacemaker cluster, and the integration with AWS resources such as Elastic IPs and Amazon Route 53 health checks to ensure seamless failover.

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AWS OpsWorks

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AWS CloudFormation

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Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)

Question 2

An SAP system running on AWS is experiencing high latency to its S3-backed backup destination. Which architectural change would most effectively reduce backup latency?

Accepted Answer

Configure an S3 Gateway Endpoint in the VPC to route traffic to S3 privately.. An S3 Gateway Endpoint provides a private, low-latency path from the SAP EC2 instance to S3 without traversing the public internet or NAT gateways. This eliminates network hops and reduces latency by keeping traffic within the AWS network, directly addressing the high-latency issue for S3-backed backups.

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Increase the size of the EC2 instance running SAP to improve I/O throughput.

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Move the SAP instance to a different Availability Zone closer to the S3 bucket.

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Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration on the backup bucket.

Question 3

A company runs SAP on AWS with an Oracle database. They want to implement a disaster recovery strategy with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 15 minutes and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 2 hours. Which combination of AWS services should they use?

Accepted Answer

AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) for ongoing replication to a DR instance, and automated snapshots for fast recovery.. AWS DMS can perform ongoing replication from an Oracle source database to a target DR instance with minimal latency, enabling an RPO of less than 15 minutes. Automated snapshots of the DR instance allow fast recovery within the 2-hour RTO. This combination meets the stated RPO and RTO requirements without relying on Oracle-specific licensing or complex manual scripts.

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Oracle Data Guard for replication and Amazon Route 53 for DNS failover.

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Amazon S3 cross-region replication for database files and a script to import them.

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AWS Backup to take weekly snapshots and restore in the DR region.

Question 4

An SAP system on AWS is using an RDS for Oracle database. The operations team notices that database backups are taking longer than expected, impacting performance. Which change would most effectively reduce backup duration without affecting availability?

Accepted Answer

Use the Backup Multi-AZ option to take backups from the standby instance.. Enabling the Backup Multi-AZ option for an RDS for Oracle database allows backups to be taken from the standby instance in a Multi-AZ deployment. This offloads the backup I/O overhead from the primary instance, reducing performance impact and backup duration while maintaining full availability for the SAP workload.

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Reduce the backup window to a shorter time period.

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Disable automatic backups and rely on manual snapshots.

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Increase the backup retention period to allow more frequent backups.

Question 5

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.

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

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

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

Question 6

A company runs SAP on AWS with a shared storage solution for transport files. They need a highly available, scalable, and POSIX-compliant file system. Which AWS storage service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP provides a fully managed, POSIX-compliant shared file system that supports the NFS, SMB, and iSCSI protocols required by SAP transport directories. It offers high availability across multiple Availability Zones, automatic failover, and scalable throughput, making it the correct choice for SAP transport files on AWS.

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Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)

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Amazon S3

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Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) with Multi-Attach enabled

Question 7

An SAP environment on AWS is using a single Availability Zone. The company wants to achieve high availability for SAP Central Services (ASCS) and Enqueue Replication Server (ERS). Which architecture should they implement?

Accepted Answer

Deploy ASCS and ERS in separate Availability Zones using AWS Launch Wizard for SAP.. Achieving high availability for SAP Central Services (ASCS) and Enqueue Replication Server (ERS) on AWS requires deploying them in separate Availability Zones (AZs) to protect against an entire AZ failure. AWS Launch Wizard for SAP automates the deployment of a multi-AZ SAP system, including the necessary infrastructure components like Elastic Load Balancing and Amazon EFS, ensuring that the ASCS and ERS instances are in different AZs with a replicated enqueue table. This architecture aligns with SAP's recommendation for a high-availability setup using a Pacemaker cluster with STONITH fencing, which is supported by AWS.

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Deploy ASCS and ERS in the same Availability Zone with a second instance as passive.

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Place ASCS and ERS on the same instance to reduce complexity.

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Use Auto Scaling groups to automatically replace failed instances.

Question 8

A company is designing an SAP HANA disaster recovery solution on AWS across two regions. Which TWO actions meet the requirement of a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of less than 5 minutes?

Accepted Answer

Set up AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication from the primary to the DR region.. Option A is correct because AWS DMS supports ongoing (change data capture) replication that continuously applies changes from the source to the target, allowing cross-region replication with latency typically well under 5 minutes, satisfying the RPO. Option D is correct because SAP HANA System Replication in asynchronous mode continuously ships redo log entries to the secondary site in the DR region, and with proper network bandwidth the replication lag can be kept under 5 minutes, meeting the RPO. Option B is not suitable because S3 Cross-Region Replication copies objects, not live HANA data files, and HANA cannot use S3 objects as a running database, so it does not provide a recoverable RPO under 5 minutes. Option C is not suitable because a per-minute export/upload script is not a supported or consistent HANA replication mechanism and cannot guarantee a sub-5-minute recoverable RPO. Option E is not suitable because nightly snapshots yield an RPO of up to 24 hours, far exceeding the 5-minute requirement.

Answer

Use Amazon S3 Cross-Region Replication to copy HANA data files to the DR region every minute.

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Schedule a script to run every minute that exports HANA data and uploads to S3 in the DR region.

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Configure automated nightly snapshots of the HANA database and copy them to the DR region using AWS Backup.

Question 9

An SAP system on AWS uses an Oracle database on EC2. The database is experiencing I/O bottlenecks. Which THREE design changes can improve I/O performance?

Accepted Answer

Provision Amazon EBS volumes with Provisioned IOPS (io2) for the database.. Option A is correct because Provisioned IOPS (io2) EBS volumes let you specify a guaranteed IOPS level independent of volume size, directly addressing the database's I/O bottleneck with consistent, high-performance block storage. Option B is correct because an EBS-optimized instance provides dedicated network bandwidth between the EC2 instance and its EBS volumes, preventing I/O contention with other traffic and improving throughput and latency. Option E is correct because offloading Oracle backups to Amazon S3 via Oracle Secure Backup (OSB) removes backup I/O from the database's EBS volumes, freeing that I/O capacity for the production workload. Option C is not appropriate because EBS Multi-Attach is only supported on io1/io2 volumes in a cluster-aware file system and is not designed for parallel I/O on a single Oracle database; concurrent non-cluster writes risk corruption. Option D is not suitable because instance store volumes are ephemeral, so storing Oracle database files there risks data loss on instance stop/termination and they are not a reliable design change for a production database.

Answer

Configure EBS Multi-Attach to allow multiple instances to share the same volume for parallel I/O.

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Use instance store volumes for the database files to reduce latency.

Question 10

A company is migrating SAP applications to AWS and needs to ensure that the environment meets SAP certification. Which TWO AWS services are specifically designed to help validate SAP workloads on AWS?

Accepted Answer

AWS Launch Wizard for SAP. AWS Launch Wizard for SAP (B) is correct because it is a purpose-built service that guides and automates the deployment of SAP HANA and SAP NetWeaver workloads on AWS using SAP-certified, AWS-validated reference architectures, helping ensure the resulting environment conforms to SAP certification requirements. AWS Trusted Advisor (E) is correct because it includes SAP-specific checks (part of the SAP support and Well-Architected guidance) that validate whether an AWS environment meets SAP-certified configurations, such as instance types and resource settings, thereby helping confirm certification compliance. AWS Config (A) is a general resource-inventory and compliance-recording service, not an SAP-certification validator. Amazon Inspector (C) is a vulnerability-management service for EC2, Lambda, and container workloads, unrelated to SAP certification. AWS Well-Architected Tool (D) provides general architectural reviews against the Well-Architected Framework but does not specifically validate SAP workloads for certification.

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AWS Config

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Amazon Inspector

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AWS Well-Architected Tool

Question 11

An SAP administrator is creating an IAM policy for an EC2 instance that performs SAP database backups to S3 and creates EBS snapshots. The policy as shown fails to allow the EC2 instance to perform backup operations. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The policy does not include the 's3:ListBucket' action for the bucket itself.. The policy lacks the `s3:ListBucket` action for the bucket itself (ARN without `/*`). When an EC2 instance performs SAP database backups to S3, the AWS SDK or CLI first issues a `ListBucket` request to verify the bucket exists and to list objects before uploading. Without this permission, the backup operation fails at the initial listing step, even if `s3:PutObject` is allowed on the object ARN.

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The S3 resource ARN is incorrect; it should be 'arn:aws:s3:::sap-backup-bucket' without the '/*'.

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The S3 actions are too permissive; they should be restricted to specific prefixes.

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The ec2:CreateSnapshot action must be restricted to specific volume ARNs.

Question 12

An SAP HANA administrator is troubleshooting a performance issue on an EC2 instance (r5.8xlarge) running SAP HANA. The instance has two EBS volumes attached. Based on the exhibit, which additional information is needed to determine if the instance is optimized for SAP HANA?

Accepted Answer

Whether the instance is EBS-optimized or has dedicated EBS bandwidth.. SAP HANA requires high and consistent network throughput for data replication and client access, and the instance must be EBS-optimized or have dedicated EBS bandwidth to ensure that EBS I/O does not contend with network I/O. Without this confirmation, the administrator cannot guarantee that the instance meets SAP's performance requirements for HANA workloads, as non-optimized instances share the same network interface for both EBS and data traffic, leading to potential bottlenecks.

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Whether the instance is in a placement group.

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The volume type and IOPS of the attached EBS volumes.

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Whether the AMI used is SAP-certified.

Question 13

A company runs SAP S/4HANA on AWS with a multi-Node HA cluster using Pacemaker and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The SAP application and database are on separate EC2 instances. After a planned failover test, the secondary node fails to take over the database role. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

STONITH fencing is not configured for the cluster.. In a Pacemaker HA cluster, STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) fencing is mandatory to ensure that a failed node is forcibly isolated before the cluster can safely promote the secondary node. Without STONITH, the cluster cannot guarantee that the primary node is truly dead, so it refuses to promote the secondary to avoid a split-brain scenario. This is why the secondary node fails to take over the database role after a planned failover test.

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The SAP HANA system replication is using asynchronous mode.

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The EBS volumes are not configured with multi-attach enabled.

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The SAP HANA system replication is not configured with ENSA2.

Question 14

An SAP administrator needs to back up an SAP HANA database running on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The backup must be consistent and restorable to any point in time. Which approach meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Backup with pre and post scripts for application-consistent snapshots and enable continuous backup.. AWS Backup with pre and post scripts enables application-consistent snapshots by quiescing the SAP HANA database (via commands like hdbsql to trigger a snapshot or log flush) before taking the EBS snapshot, ensuring crash-consistent data. Enabling continuous backup (using AWS Backup's continuous backup and point-in-time recovery for EBS snapshots) allows restoration to any point in time within the retention window, meeting the requirement for point-in-time recovery.

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Use S3 lifecycle policies to transition backups to Glacier.

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Take manual EBS snapshots of the database volumes before each backup.

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Use AWS Backup with EBS snapshots every hour.

Question 15

A company runs SAP Business Suite on AWS with Oracle Database. The system is experiencing high read latency on the database server. The current storage configuration uses EBS gp2 volumes. Which change would most effectively reduce read latency?

Accepted Answer

Migrate to io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.. Io2 Block Express volumes provide consistent, high-performance IOPS with sub-millisecond latency, which directly addresses the high read latency issue. Unlike gp2, which relies on burst credits and has variable performance, io2 Block Express delivers provisioned IOPS up to 256,000 per volume, making it ideal for latency-sensitive SAP workloads with Oracle Database.

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Increase the size of the EBS gp2 volumes to increase baseline IOPS.

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Configure a RAID 0 stripe across multiple EBS volumes.

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Use EBS st1 volumes for better throughput.