PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company is running SAP on AWS and needs to encrypt all data at rest for the SAP HANA database. Which AWS service should be used to manage the encryption keys?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse AWS CloudHSM with KMS, thinking that because CloudHSM provides dedicated HSMs it must be the correct choice for key management, but the question specifically asks for a service to 'manage' encryption keys, which is KMS's core function, while CloudHSM is a raw HSM service that requires manual key management and lacks native integration with AWS storage services for transparent encryption.
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
✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is the correct service for managing encryption keys for SAP HANA on AWS because it provides a centralized, highly available key management system that integrates directly with AWS services and supports envelope encryption. For SAP HANA, KMS can be used to encrypt the EBS volumes, S3 buckets, or other storage where HANA data resides, and it allows you to control key rotation, access policies, and auditing via AWS CloudTrail, meeting the requirement to encrypt data at rest.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM is a hardware security module, but KMS is the recommended service for key management.
- ✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
KMS is used to manage encryption keys for data at rest.
- ✗
AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager is for managing secrets, not encryption keys.
- ✗
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why it's wrong here
ACM is for managing SSL/TLS certificates.
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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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.