PAS-C01 AWS Backup Practice Question
A company has an SAP HANA database running on an RDS for SAP HANA instance. The operations team wants to automate the backup process and retain backups for 90 days. Which AWS service should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may confuse RDS automated backups (which have a 35-day retention limit) with the ability to retain manual snapshots. AWS Backup can manage manual snapshots and automate their retention for longer periods.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Backup
AWS Backup is the correct answer because it provides a centralized backup service that can automate and retain backups of RDS for SAP HANA instances with custom retention policies, including beyond 35 days. Options A and B are incorrect: RDS automated backups are limited to a maximum retention of 35 days, and Amazon S3 lifecycle policies manage object lifecycles, not database backups. Option D is incorrect because AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service, not a backup service for RDS.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
RDS automated backups
Why it's wrong here
Max retention is 35 days.
- ✗
Amazon S3 lifecycle policies
Why it's wrong here
S3 lifecycle is for objects, not RDS backups.
- ✓
AWS Backup
Why this is correct
AWS Backup can schedule and retain backups for 90 days.
- ✗
AWS Storage Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Storage Gateway is for on-premises integration.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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