PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
A company is running an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with a single EBS volume for /hana/data. The performance team reports high write latency during peak hours. Which change would most effectively reduce write latency without compromising data durability?
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
✓
Configure multiple EBS volumes in a striped RAID 0 array for the /hana/data directory
Configuring multiple EBS volumes in a striped RAID 0 array is the most effective way to reduce write latency for SAP HANA's /hana/data directory because it distributes I/O across multiple volumes, increasing throughput and reducing latency. This approach is recommended by AWS for high-performance SAP HANA workloads. Option A (switching to io1 with high IOPS) could improve performance but is more expensive and may not provide the same level of throughput as striping. Option B (increasing volume size) only increases baseline IOPS for gp2/gp3 volumes but does not guarantee latency reduction. Option C (moving to gp2) is a downgrade from the current volume type (likely gp3 or io1) and would likely increase latency.
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 the EBS volume type to Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1) with high IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Provisioned IOPS can help but is more expensive; striping is more effective for throughput.
- ✗
Increase the size of the EBS volume to gain more baseline IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Increasing volume size improves baseline IOPS but may not significantly reduce write latency.
- ✗
Move the /hana/data directory to a General Purpose SSD (gp2) volume
Why it's wrong here
GP2 is lower performance than io1 or striping; it would increase latency.
- ✓
Configure multiple EBS volumes in a striped RAID 0 array for the /hana/data directory
Why this is correct
Striping across multiple EBS volumes distributes I/O and reduces latency.
Quick reference
RAID Level Comparison
| RAID Level | Min Disks | Fault Tolerance | Read | Write | Usable Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAID 0 | 2 | None | Excellent | Excellent | 100% |
| RAID 1 | 2 | 1 disk | Good | Moderate | 50% |
| RAID 5 | 3 | 1 disk | Good | Moderate | 67–94% |
| RAID 6 | 4 | 2 disks | Good | Lower | 50–88% |
| RAID 10 | 4 | 1 disk per mirror | Excellent | Good | 50% |
RAID is not a backup strategy — it protects against disk failure but not against accidental deletion, ransomware, or site-level events.
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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.