PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company is running SAP HANA on an EC2 instance with multiple EBS volumes for data and log. The instance is experiencing high write latency on the log volume. The administrator notices that the log volume is a gp2 EBS volume with 1,000 GB size and 3,000 IOPS baseline. The average write IOPS to the log volume is 4,000, with peaks up to 5,500. Which action should the administrator take to resolve the latency?
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
✓
Replace the gp2 volume with an io2 Block Express volume provisioned at 6,000 IOPS.
The gp2 volume's baseline IOPS is 3,000, but the log volume requires an average of 4,000 write IOPS with peaks up to 5,500, which exceeds the burst balance, causing latency. Replacing with an io2 Block Express volume provisioned at 6,000 IOPS provides consistent high IOPS and low latency, ideal for SAP HANA log volumes. Option B is incorrect because st1 volumes are throughput-optimized, not IOPS-optimized, and would not address the IOPS bottleneck. Option C is incorrect because striping additional gp2 volumes adds complexity and still relies on burst performance, which may not sustain the required IOPS. Option D is incorrect because while increasing gp2 size to 2,000 GB doubles baseline IOPS to 6,000, gp2 still uses a burst model; if the burst balance is depleted, latency can occur. io2 Block Express provides provisioned, consistent performance without bursting.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Replace the gp2 volume with an io2 Block Express volume provisioned at 6,000 IOPS.
Why this is correct
io2 Block Express provides consistent low latency and high IOPS.
- ✗
Change the volume type to st1 (throughput optimized) to improve throughput.
Why it's wrong here
st1 is for throughput, not low latency; not suitable for log.
- ✗
Add a second log volume and stripe them using LVM.
Why it's wrong here
Stripping can help, but HANA log should be on a single volume for recovery; not recommended.
- ✗
Increase the gp2 volume size to 2,000 GB to double the baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
This would raise baseline to 6,000, but gp2 has burst limitations; io2 is better.
Visual reference
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.