PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
A company is migrating its SAP HANA database to AWS. The SAP HANA database requires high throughput and low latency for data persistence. Which AWS storage solution should be used for the HANA data volume to meet performance requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse high-throughput file systems like FSx for Lustre with block storage requirements for databases, or assume that gp2's burst capability is sufficient for sustained SAP HANA workloads without considering the burst credit exhaustion under continuous load.
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
✓
Use Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1 or io2) EBS volumes for the data volume.
SAP HANA is an in-memory database that relies on persistent storage for data volume writes during savepoints and log writes. Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1 or io2) EBS volumes deliver consistent, low-latency performance with configurable IOPS, which is required to meet SAP HANA's strict throughput and latency SLAs. AWS specifically certifies io1/io2 EBS volumes for SAP HANA data volumes in production environments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Amazon FSx for Lustre as primary persistent storage for HANA data.
Why it's wrong here
FSx for Lustre is for HPC, not for persistent database storage.
- ✓
Use Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1 or io2) EBS volumes for the data volume.
Why this is correct
io1/io2 volumes provide consistent low latency and high IOPS for HANA.
- ✗
Use General Purpose SSD (gp2) EBS volumes for the data volume.
Why it's wrong here
gp2 volumes do not guarantee consistent IOPS required for HANA.
- ✗
Use Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) EBS volumes for the data volume.
Why it's wrong here
st1 volumes are not suitable for HANA due to variable performance.
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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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PAS-C01 exam.