- A
Deploy the SAP application on a single EC2 instance and use S3 for database backups with cross-region replication.
Why wrong: Single instance is a single point of failure; S3 is not suitable for database replication.
- B
Deploy a single EC2 instance for the SAP application and database in one Availability Zone, and take hourly snapshots of the EBS volumes.
Why wrong: Single AZ does not provide high availability; hourly snapshots do not meet RPO of 15 minutes.
- C
Use two EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group with instance store volumes for the database, and store application files on S3.
Why wrong: Instance store is ephemeral; S3 cannot serve as a shared file system for SAP.
- D
Deploy the SAP application on two EC2 instances in different AZs with a shared EFS file system, and use a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication.
Multi-AZ deployment with synchronous replication meets RPO; EFS provides shared storage for quick failover.
PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is planning to migrate its SAP S/4HANA system to AWS. The system requires high availability with an RTO of less than 30 minutes and RPO of less than 15 minutes. The SAP application layer runs on Linux. Which architecture should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements?
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
Deploy the SAP application on two EC2 instances in different AZs with a shared EFS file system, and use a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication.
Option D is correct because it meets the RTO of <30 minutes and RPO of <15 minutes by deploying the SAP application on two EC2 instances across different Availability Zones with a shared EFS file system for stateless application files, and using a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication. Synchronous replication ensures zero data loss (RPO=0) and automatic failover to the standby in a different AZ achieves RTO well under 30 minutes. The Linux SAP application layer is stateless, so EFS provides a shared, highly available file system that allows either instance to serve traffic seamlessly after a failover.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy the SAP application on a single EC2 instance and use S3 for database backups with cross-region replication.
Why it's wrong here
Single instance is a single point of failure; S3 is not suitable for database replication.
- ✗
Deploy a single EC2 instance for the SAP application and database in one Availability Zone, and take hourly snapshots of the EBS volumes.
Why it's wrong here
Single AZ does not provide high availability; hourly snapshots do not meet RPO of 15 minutes.
- ✗
Use two EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group with instance store volumes for the database, and store application files on S3.
Why it's wrong here
Instance store is ephemeral; S3 cannot serve as a shared file system for SAP.
- ✓
Deploy the SAP application on two EC2 instances in different AZs with a shared EFS file system, and use a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication.
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ deployment with synchronous replication meets RPO; EFS provides shared storage for quick failover.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse high availability with disaster recovery, assuming that backups or snapshots (Options A and B) can meet low RPO/RTO targets, when in fact only synchronous replication with automatic failover (Option D) can achieve sub-15-minute RPO and sub-30-minute RTO for SAP HANA.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SAP HANA’s synchronous replication in a multi-AZ RDS deployment uses log shipping with synchronous commit, ensuring that every transaction is written to both primary and standby before acknowledging the client, achieving an RPO of zero. The RTO is typically under 60 seconds for database failover, and combined with a stateless application layer using EFS (which provides NFSv4.1 with strong consistency across AZs), the overall RTO remains well under 30 minutes. In real-world scenarios, this architecture also supports planned maintenance events (e.g., patching) without downtime by failing over to the standby.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PAS-C01 question test?
Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — This question tests Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy the SAP application on two EC2 instances in different AZs with a shared EFS file system, and use a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication. — Option D is correct because it meets the RTO of <30 minutes and RPO of <15 minutes by deploying the SAP application on two EC2 instances across different Availability Zones with a shared EFS file system for stateless application files, and using a multi-AZ RDS for SAP HANA with synchronous replication. Synchronous replication ensures zero data loss (RPO=0) and automatic failover to the standby in a different AZ achieves RTO well under 30 minutes. The Linux SAP application layer is stateless, so EFS provides a shared, highly available file system that allows either instance to serve traffic seamlessly after a failover.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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