PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company needs to automate the start and stop of SAP applications in non-production environments to reduce costs. The SAP systems run on multiple EC2 instances. Which AWS service can be used to schedule start and stop actions?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose AWS Lambda with custom code (Option B) because they know Lambda can be scheduled with CloudWatch Events, but they overlook that AWS Instance Scheduler is a pre-built, managed solution that eliminates the need for custom development and maintenance, which is the most cost-effective and reliable approach for this specific use case.
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 Instance Scheduler
AWS Instance Scheduler is a purpose-built solution that automates the start and stop of EC2 instances based on a defined schedule, making it ideal for reducing costs in non-production SAP environments. It uses AWS CloudFormation to deploy a scheduler that triggers Lambda functions to stop and start instances at specified times, and it natively supports tagging to identify which instances to manage, without requiring custom code.
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 OpsWorks
Why it's wrong here
OpsWorks is for configuration management, not scheduling.
- ✗
AWS Lambda with custom code
Why it's wrong here
Lambda can be used but requires custom development; Instance Scheduler is a turnkey solution.
- ✓
AWS Instance Scheduler
Why this is correct
Instance Scheduler is a ready-made solution that uses Lambda and DynamoDB to start/stop instances.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Events
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Events can trigger Lambda, but the Instance Scheduler is the recommended approach.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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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.