PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company is planning to run SAP S/4HANA on AWS and needs to ensure that the SAP system is backed up according to best practices. Which backup strategy is recommended?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume EBS snapshots alone are sufficient for SAP backups, overlooking the need for application quiescing and separate database backups to ensure both file system and database consistency.
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 EBS snapshots after quiescing the SAP system, combined with database backups to S3.
For SAP S/4HANA on AWS, the recommended backup strategy combines EBS snapshots taken after quiescing the SAP system (to ensure file system consistency) with database backups to Amazon S3. Quiescing the application ensures that all pending I/O operations are flushed and the file system is in a consistent state, preventing data corruption. Database backups to S3 provide a separate, application-consistent recovery point that can be used for point-in-time recovery, which is critical for SAP systems.
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 EBS snapshots after quiescing the SAP system, combined with database backups to S3.
Why this is correct
Application-consistent snapshots plus database backups to S3 follow AWS best practices.
- ✗
Use EBS snapshots of the data volumes without quiescing the application.
Why it's wrong here
Without quiescing, snapshots may be inconsistent.
- ✗
Store backup files on instance store volumes for quick recovery.
Why it's wrong here
Instance store is ephemeral and not reliable for backups.
- ✗
Use AWS Backup to take snapshots of the EC2 instance only.
Why it's wrong here
Instance snapshots may not be application-consistent for SAP HANA.
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.