PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company is running an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database experiences high write latency during peak hours. Which configuration change would most effectively reduce latency?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose gp3 (Option A) because it is the newer, cost-effective general-purpose volume, but they overlook that SAP HANA's strict latency requirements demand the premium io2 Block Express, not just high throughput.
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 io2 Block Express volumes with multi-attach enabled.
SAP HANA is a high-performance in-memory database that requires extremely low-latency storage for its data and log volumes. EBS io2 Block Express volumes provide up to 256,000 IOPS per volume with single-digit millisecond latency, and multi-attach enables a cluster configuration for high availability. This directly addresses high write latency during peak hours by delivering consistent, ultra-low latency performance that gp3 or larger instances cannot match.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Switch to gp3 EBS volumes with maximum throughput.
Why it's wrong here
gp3 volumes provide lower maximum IOPS and higher latency compared to io2 Block Express for SAP HANA.
- ✗
Increase the EC2 instance size to a compute-optimized type.
Why it's wrong here
Compute-optimized instances improve CPU performance but do not directly address storage latency.
- ✓
Use EBS io2 Block Express volumes with multi-attach enabled.
Why this is correct
io2 Block Express volumes offer up to 256,000 IOPS and sub-millisecond latency, meeting SAP HANA performance requirements.
- ✗
Migrate the data to instance store volumes.
Why it's wrong here
Instance store volumes are ephemeral and data is lost on instance stop/termination, making them unsuitable for databases.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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