- A
Migrate the log files to Amazon S3 and use S3 Transfer Acceleration for writes.
Why wrong: S3 is not a POSIX-compliant file system; rewriting applications to use S3 is costly and complex.
- B
Switch the EFS throughput mode to Provisioned Throughput to guarantee higher performance.
Why wrong: Provisioned Throughput incurs higher cost; increasing file system size is more cost-effective if baseline throughput suffices.
- C
Add more EC2 instances to the Auto Scaling group to distribute the I/O load.
Why wrong: More instances increase concurrent I/O, potentially worsening the bottleneck.
- D
Increase the size of the EFS file system to increase the baseline throughput and burst credits.
Larger EFS file systems have higher baseline throughput and accumulate more burst credits, reducing I/O wait.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to increase the size of the EFS file system to raise its baseline throughput and burst credit accumulation rate. This resolves the latency because EFS Bursting mode relies on a baseline throughput proportional to storage size; when burst credits are exhausted, as indicated by high BurstCreditBalance and PercentIOLimit, the file system throttles I/O, causing the application’s internal processing time to spike. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of EFS throughput optimization for SAP workloads, where log-heavy applications can rapidly consume burst credits. A common trap is to immediately choose Provisioned Throughput, but increasing storage size is the minimal-cost fix—it directly raises the baseline without additional per-GB charges. Memory tip: “Bigger EFS, bigger baseline—burst less, stress less.”
PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company runs a multi-tier application on AWS. The application consists of an Application Load Balancer (ALB) that distributes traffic to a fleet of EC2 instances running a web server. The web servers write logs to an Amazon EFS file system mounted across all instances. The operations team reports that the web application is experiencing intermittent high latency and timeouts. Monitoring shows that the ALB's target response time is normal, but the application's internal processing time is high. Further investigation reveals that the EFS performance metrics show high 'BurstCreditBalance' and 'PercentIOLimit' during the latency spikes. The EFS file system is configured with 'Bursting' throughput mode. The team needs to resolve the latency issue with minimal cost. What should they do?
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
Increase the size of the EFS file system to increase the baseline throughput and burst credits.
Option D is correct because increasing the size of an EFS file system in Bursting mode raises its baseline throughput and burst credit accumulation rate. The high BurstCreditBalance and PercentIOLimit indicate the file system is exhausting its burst credits and hitting its I/O limit, causing throttling and latency. A larger EFS volume provides a higher baseline throughput, reducing reliance on burst credits and smoothing performance without additional cost for Provisioned Throughput.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Migrate the log files to Amazon S3 and use S3 Transfer Acceleration for writes.
Why it's wrong here
S3 is not a POSIX-compliant file system; rewriting applications to use S3 is costly and complex.
- ✗
Switch the EFS throughput mode to Provisioned Throughput to guarantee higher performance.
Why it's wrong here
Provisioned Throughput incurs higher cost; increasing file system size is more cost-effective if baseline throughput suffices.
- ✗
Add more EC2 instances to the Auto Scaling group to distribute the I/O load.
Why it's wrong here
More instances increase concurrent I/O, potentially worsening the bottleneck.
- ✓
Increase the size of the EFS file system to increase the baseline throughput and burst credits.
Why this is correct
Larger EFS file systems have higher baseline throughput and accumulate more burst credits, reducing I/O wait.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume 'Bursting' mode is always sufficient and look to add compute capacity (Option C) or change storage type (Option A), when the real issue is that the file system is too small to sustain the workload's I/O demands, and resizing it is the most cost-effective fix.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EFS Bursting mode uses a credit bucket that refills at a baseline rate proportional to the file system's size (50 MiB/s per TiB of storage). When the workload exceeds this baseline, it consumes burst credits; once credits are depleted, throughput is throttled to the baseline, causing latency spikes. Increasing the file system size directly raises both the baseline throughput and the rate at which burst credits accumulate, effectively increasing the sustainable I/O capacity without changing the throughput mode.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PAS-C01 question test?
Operations and Maintenance — This question tests Operations and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Increase the size of the EFS file system to increase the baseline throughput and burst credits. — Option D is correct because increasing the size of an EFS file system in Bursting mode raises its baseline throughput and burst credit accumulation rate. The high BurstCreditBalance and PercentIOLimit indicate the file system is exhausting its burst credits and hitting its I/O limit, causing throttling and latency. A larger EFS volume provides a higher baseline throughput, reducing reliance on burst credits and smoothing performance without additional cost for Provisioned Throughput.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on PAS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An SAP on AWS environment uses a shared file system via Amazon EFS for SAP transport files. The EFS file system is mounted on multiple EC2 instances. Users report that file operations are slow during peak hours. Which action should be taken to improve performance?
hard- ✓ A.Enable EFS Provisioned Throughput mode and increase throughput
- B.Migrate to Amazon EBS with Multi-Attach enabled
- C.Move the transport files to Amazon S3 and use S3FS
- D.Increase the number of EC2 instances to distribute the load
Why A: Option D is correct because enabling EFS throughput mode to Provisioned with increased throughput can improve performance. Option A is wrong because moving to EBS with Multi-Attach is not suitable for shared file system across many instances. Option B is wrong because S3 does not provide a POSIX file system. Option C is wrong because adding more instances does not improve EFS performance.
Variation 2. An SAP on AWS environment uses a shared file system with Amazon EFS. The operations team reports slow performance during peak hours. Which configuration change would most likely improve throughput?
medium- A.Enable encryption at rest
- B.Increase provisioned throughput
- ✓ C.Enable Bursting Throughput
- D.Change the performance mode to Max I/O
Why C: Option B is correct because enabling Bursting Throughput on EFS allows higher throughput for short bursts. Option A (changing to General Purpose performance mode) is already default; Max I/O mode is for throughput but not bursting. Option C (increasing provisioned throughput) increases cost but may help, but bursting is more cost-effective. Option D (enabling encryption) does not affect performance.
Variation 3. An SAP system on AWS uses a shared file system with Amazon EFS. The operations team notices that file operations have high latency during peak hours. The EFS file system is configured with Bursting Throughput mode. The team monitors the CloudWatch metric PercentIOLimit and sees it consistently at 100%. What should the team do to improve performance?
hard- A.Enable encryption at rest for the file system
- B.Change the performance mode to General Purpose
- C.Increase the size of the file system by adding more files
- ✓ D.Change the file system to Provisioned Throughput mode
Why D: PercentIOLimit at 100% indicates the file system is using all its burst credits. To avoid throttling, the team should change to Provisioned Throughput mode or increase the amount of data stored to earn more credits. Changing to General Purpose performance mode affects latency, not throughput. Enabling encryption adds overhead. Increasing file system size indirectly helps earn more credits but is not a direct solution.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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