PAS-C01 Swap space Practice Question
A company is running an SAP HANA database on a single EC2 instance. The operations team notices that the instance is running low on memory, which is causing performance degradation. The team needs to increase memory without downtime. Which solution should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Although adding swap space does not increase physical RAM, it can provide immediate relief without downtime, making it the only option that meets the no-downtime requirement in this scenario.
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
✓
Increase the swap space on the existing instance.
Increasing swap space on the existing instance can be done without downtime by adding a swap file or enlarging an existing swap partition. This provides additional virtual memory, which can help alleviate memory pressure without stopping the database. While swap does not increase physical memory, it is a quick, no-downtime solution to mitigate performance degradation until a more permanent solution (e.g., migrating to a larger instance) can be scheduled. Option D is incorrect because modifying the EC2 instance type requires stopping the instance, which causes downtime, contradicting the requirement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Increase the swap space on the existing instance.
Why this is correct
Correct. Increasing swap can be done online (without stopping the instance) and provides temporary virtual memory.
- ✗
Launch a new EC2 instance with more memory and migrate the database.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Launching a new instance and migrating the database requires stopping the database or using replication, both of which cause downtime.
- ✗
Add additional EBS volumes to increase swap space.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Adding EBS volumes for swap is similar to A but less efficient; still, it does not address the physical memory shortage and is not the best answer.
- ✗
Modify the EC2 instance type to a larger type with more memory.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Modifying the instance type requires stopping the instance, causing downtime.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,616 original PAS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.