PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Test 41 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A company runs SAP HANA on AWS using an r5.8xlarge EC2 instance. The HANA database uses multiple EBS volumes for data and log. The company wants to ensure that the HANA database can be recovered quickly in the event of an Availability Zone failure. The RTO is 15 minutes and RPO is 5 minutes. Which design meets these requirements?

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

Accepted Answer

Use HANA System Replication (HSR) with a secondary instance in another Availability Zone, and automate failover using a cluster solution. To meet an RTO of 15 minutes and RPO of 5 minutes for SAP HANA in the event of an AZ failure, HANA System Replication (HSR) to a secondary instance in another Availability Zone is the appropriate solution. HSR with asynchronous replication can achieve an RPO of less than 5 minutes, and with automated failover using a cluster, the RTO can be within 15 minutes. Other options like EBS snapshots, same-AZ replication, or cross-Region AWS Backup do not meet the requirements.

Answer

Use HANA System Replication with a secondary instance in the same Availability Zone, and use an Application Load Balancer for failover

Answer

Use AWS Backup to back up the HANA database every 5 minutes to a vault in another Region, and restore to a new instance

Answer

Use EBS snapshots taken every 5 minutes and restore to a new instance in another Availability Zone

Question 2

A company is deploying SAP S/4HANA on AWS using a scale-out architecture with multiple application servers and a single HANA database. They need to ensure that the SAP application servers can communicate with the HANA database with the lowest possible latency and highest throughput. The HANA database is running on an x1e.32xlarge EC2 instance in a private subnet. Which network configuration should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

Place the application servers and the HANA database in a cluster placement group within a single Availability Zone and enable enhanced networking with ENA.. A cluster placement group within a single Availability Zone places instances on closely located hardware, reducing network latency and increasing throughput. When combined with ENA-enabled instances, this provides the optimal network performance for SAP application servers communicating with a HANA database. Other options either increase latency or do not address the low-latency requirement.

Answer

Place the application servers and the HANA database in a spread placement group across multiple Availability Zones and enable enhanced networking with ENA.

Answer

Place the application servers and the HANA database in the same VPC but different subnets, and enable jumbo frames on all instances.

Answer

Place the application servers and the HANA database in the same subnet and enable enhanced networking with Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) on all instances.

Question 3

A company is running SAP NetWeaver on AWS with an Oracle database on an EC2 instance. The database is experiencing performance issues due to high I/O latency. The company wants to improve I/O performance without changing the database software or migrating to a different database. Which action should be taken to improve I/O performance for the Oracle database?

Accepted Answer

Use Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes for the Oracle database data and log files, and configure them with high IOPS.. The correct answer is to use Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes with high IOPS. These volumes are designed for high-performance, low-latency workloads and can significantly improve I/O performance for the Oracle database. Other options either do not address the I/O bottleneck or involve unnecessary changes.

Answer

Move the Oracle database to an EC2 instance with a higher memory capacity.

Answer

Enable detailed monitoring on the EC2 instance to identify the I/O bottleneck.

Answer

Migrate the Oracle database to an Amazon RDS for Oracle instance.

Question 4

A company is designing the storage layout for a new SAP HANA scale-up deployment on AWS using a single EC2 instance with multiple EBS volumes. The SAP Basis team must ensure that the storage configuration meets SAP performance requirements and survives an instance stop and start. Which TWO design choices should be implemented? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Configure the EBS volumes with the same Availability Zone as the instance and ensure they are reattached to the instance after a stop and start.. SAP HANA storage design requires separate file systems for data, log, and shared so each can be provisioned for its own I/O characteristics, and EBS volumes must reside in the same Availability Zone as the instance so they can be reattached after a stop and start. Combining file systems on one volume or using unsupported file systems undermines performance and supportability, and Multi-Attach is not valid for HANA data or log volumes.

Answer

Use a single large io2 volume formatted with XFS and mount it at /hana, placing all HANA file systems under that one mount point to simplify management.

Answer

Enable EBS Multi-Attach on the /hana/data volume so that a second instance can mount the same volume during a failover event.

Answer

Format the /hana/log volume with the ext3 file system because it provides lower overhead than XFS for small synchronous writes.

Question 5

A company is running an SAP S/4HANA system on AWS with a single SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance. The database uses EBS volumes for data and log. The company needs to implement a backup strategy that allows them to restore the database to any point in time within the last 7 days. Which combination of AWS services and features should be used to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA backup and recovery with continuous log backups to Amazon S3. SAP HANA point-in-time recovery requires continuous log backups in addition to data backups. By configuring SAP HANA to back up logs to Amazon S3, you can restore to any point in time within the retention period. This is the standard SAP approach and is supported on AWS. Other options either do not provide PITR or are not applicable to SAP HANA.

Answer

AWS Storage Gateway with continuous replication to Amazon S3

Answer

Amazon RDS for SAP HANA with automated backups and point-in-time recovery

Answer

AWS Backup with EBS snapshots taken every hour, retained for 7 days

Question 6

A company is deploying SAP S/4HANA on AWS and needs to ensure that the SAP HANA database meets the SAP certification requirements for storage performance. Which AWS storage option should be used for the SAP HANA data and log volumes?

Accepted Answer

Amazon EBS io1 or io2 volumes. SAP HANA requires storage with consistent high IOPS and low latency, which is provided by Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes (io1/io2). These volumes are certified by SAP for HANA and are the recommended choice for data and log volumes. Other storage options lack the necessary performance characteristics.

Answer

Amazon S3 Standard

Answer

Amazon EFS General Purpose

Answer

Amazon EBS gp2 volumes

Question 7

A company is running a high-availability SAP HANA setup on AWS using SAP HANA system replication (HSR) with automatic failover. The primary and secondary HANA instances are in separate Availability Zones within the same AWS Region. The company wants to ensure that the failover process is as fast as possible and that the secondary instance is always ready to take over. Which configuration should be implemented to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Configure HSR in synchronous mode with full sync and use an overlay IP address for the HANA instance. For SAP HANA high availability with fast failover and zero data loss, HSR should be configured in synchronous mode with full sync. This ensures that the secondary is always in sync. Using an overlay IP address allows clients to reconnect seamlessly after failover. Other options either introduce data loss risk or are not supported for SAP HANA.

Answer

Configure HSR in synchronous mode but without full sync, and use a Network Load Balancer to distribute connections

Answer

Configure HSR in asynchronous mode with log shipping every 5 minutes

Answer

Use Amazon EBS multi-attach volumes for the HANA data and log volumes shared between primary and secondary

Question 8

A company is migrating an SAP HANA database to AWS. The database is 2 TB in size and requires high availability across two Availability Zones. The company wants to minimize recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). Which AWS service should be used to replicate the HANA database to a secondary Availability Zone with near-zero data loss?

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA system replication (HSR) with synchronous mode.. To achieve high availability for SAP HANA across Availability Zones with minimal RTO and RPO, SAP HANA system replication (HSR) in synchronous mode is the appropriate solution. HSR replicates transactions in real time to a secondary HANA instance, ensuring near-zero data loss. When combined with a cluster solution, it can also provide automatic failover, minimizing downtime. Other options do not provide the required level of replication for a live HANA database.

Answer

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) with continuous replication.

Answer

AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) with change data capture (CDC).

Answer

Amazon S3 Cross-Region Replication (CRR) of HANA backups.

Question 9

An SAP Basis administrator is designing a backup strategy for an SAP HANA database running on an Amazon EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database is 2 TB in size, and the company requires a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 2 hours. The backup must be stored durably and be restorable to any point in time within the last 7 days. Which combination of AWS services and features should be used to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use SAP HANA's native backup and recovery with continuous redo log backups to Amazon S3, and take periodic full data backups to S3 using HANA's backint interface with an AWS-certified backup solution.. SAP HANA's native backup and recovery mechanisms, combined with continuous redo log backups to Amazon S3, provide the required 15-minute RPO and 7-day point-in-time recovery. Using backint with an AWS-certified backup solution ensures that full data backups are application-consistent and stored durably in S3. EBS snapshots alone do not provide application consistency or the granularity needed for a 15-minute RPO. This approach is also cost-effective and scalable.

Answer

Use AWS Backup to create daily snapshots of the EBS volumes and enable point-in-time recovery (PITR) for the HANA database using the HANA backup catalog.

Answer

Enable SAP HANA's automatic log backup to an Amazon S3 bucket, and use AWS Backup to take EBS snapshots of the data and log volumes at least every 15 minutes.

Answer

Configure SAP HANA to write redo log backups to an Amazon S3 bucket every 15 minutes, and use AWS Storage Gateway to snapshot the EBS volumes hourly.

Question 10

A company runs SAP NetWeaver on AWS and wants to reduce the cost of the SAP application servers during non-business hours. The application servers are currently running 24/7 on EC2 instances. The company requires that the SAP system be automatically started and stopped on a schedule, and that the SAP application servers be gracefully shut down to avoid data corruption. Which solution should be implemented?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Systems Manager Automation with a maintenance window to run a script that calls SAP start/stop commands on the instances.. To automatically start and stop SAP application servers on a schedule while ensuring graceful shutdown, AWS Systems Manager Automation with a maintenance window is the appropriate solution. It can run SAP-specific start/stop commands on the instances, preserving data integrity. Other options either do not gracefully shut down SAP or are not schedule-based.

Answer

Use AWS Lambda to stop the EC2 instances directly via the StopInstances API call at night and start them in the morning.

Answer

Create an Auto Scaling group with a scheduled scaling policy to terminate instances at night and launch new ones in the morning.

Answer

Configure an Amazon CloudWatch alarm to trigger an AWS Lambda function that stops the instances when CPU utilization is low.

Question 11

A company runs an SAP NetWeaver application server on a single EC2 instance in a single Availability Zone. The company wants to improve the availability of the application server by distributing it across multiple Availability Zones. Which AWS service should be used to distribute incoming SAP GUI and web traffic across multiple application server instances?

Accepted Answer

Network Load Balancer (NLB) with a target group containing the application server instances.. To distribute SAP GUI and web traffic across multiple application server instances in different Availability Zones, a Network Load Balancer is the appropriate choice. It operates at the transport layer, supports the TCP-based SAP protocols, and can perform health checks to ensure traffic is routed only to healthy instances. This improves the availability of the SAP NetWeaver application servers. Other services either operate at the wrong layer or do not provide the required load balancing within a VPC.

Answer

AWS Global Accelerator with endpoint groups for each application server.

Answer

Application Load Balancer (ALB) with path-based routing rules.

Answer

Amazon Route 53 with latency-based routing.

Question 12

A company is planning to migrate its SAP NetWeaver Java system to AWS. The system consists of a central services instance, multiple dialog instances, and a database. The company wants to minimize administrative overhead and ensure that the SAP application servers can be automatically replaced if they fail. Which AWS service should be used to manage the SAP application server instances?

Accepted Answer

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is designed to maintain a desired number of healthy EC2 instances. By integrating with Elastic Load Balancing and health checks, it can detect and replace unhealthy SAP application servers automatically. You can also use lifecycle hooks to run scripts that register or deregister the application server with the SAP system, ensuring that the new instance is properly integrated. This reduces administrative overhead and improves the availability of the SAP NetWeaver Java system.

Answer

AWS OpsWorks for Chef Automate

Answer

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

Answer

AWS Systems Manager

Question 13

A company is migrating its SAP Business Suite on Oracle database to AWS. The database currently runs on physical servers with high I/O requirements. The company wants to use Amazon EC2 instances with Amazon EBS volumes that provide consistent IOPS and low latency. Which EBS volume type should a SAP specialist recommend for the Oracle database data files?

Accepted Answer

Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes. Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volumes are the recommended storage for high-performance SAP Oracle databases on AWS. They provide consistent sub-millisecond latency and high IOPS, which are essential for database data files. gp3 volumes are general-purpose and may not sustain the required performance, while st1 and sc1 are HDD-based and unsuitable for random I/O database workloads.

Answer

Amazon EBS st1 volumes

Answer

Amazon EBS sc1 volumes

Answer

Amazon EBS gp3 volumes

Question 14

A company is designing the storage layout for an SAP HANA database on AWS. The database will run on an EC2 instance with multiple EBS volumes. The company wants to optimize performance and ensure that the storage configuration meets SAP's requirements for production workloads. Which TWO actions should be taken? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Use a separate EBS volume for the log volume and configure it with higher IOPS than the data volume to handle write-intensive log operations.. For production SAP HANA on AWS, using Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) volumes ensures the high IOPS and sub-millisecond latency required. Separating the log volume from the data volume and provisioning it with higher IOPS addresses the write-intensive nature of log operations, preventing bottlenecks. These two actions directly address performance and SAP's storage layout requirements. Other options may be valid security or cost measures but do not meet the specific performance optimization goals.

Answer

Use gp3 EBS volumes for the data and log volumes to balance cost and performance.

Answer

Enable EBS encryption on all volumes to secure data at rest, as required for production SAP HANA deployments.

Answer

Place the data and log volumes on the same EBS volume to simplify management and reduce cost.

Question 15

A company runs an SAP HANA database on an Amazon EC2 instance with 4 TB of memory. The company wants to reduce the time it takes to restart the HANA database after a planned maintenance event. The HANA data volume is on an Amazon EBS io2 Block Express volume. Which feature should a SAP specialist enable to speed up the restart by loading data into memory from a persistent storage location?

Accepted Answer

SAP HANA fast restart. SAP HANA fast restart uses a persistent memory-mapped file to store column store data on the data volume, allowing HANA to reload data into memory quickly after a restart. This significantly reduces restart time for large instances. Dynamic tiering, extension nodes, and smart data streaming do not provide this capability and are not relevant to accelerating restart.

Answer

SAP HANA dynamic tiering

Answer

SAP HANA smart data streaming

Answer

SAP HANA extension node