PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company runs its SAP ERP system on AWS with an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance. The database is configured with multiple EBS io1 volumes striped in a RAID 0. Recently, the company implemented a new backup process using AWS Backup with the Backint agent. However, during the backup window, the database performance degrades significantly, causing application timeouts. The database administrator checks CloudWatch metrics and sees that the EBS write latency spikes to over 50 ms during backups. The backup target is an S3 bucket in the same region. The EC2 instance type is r5.4xlarge with EBS-optimized enabled. What is the MOST likely cause of the performance degradation?
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
✓
The Backint agent is consuming CPU and I/O resources, causing contention.
The Backint agent runs on the same EC2 instance as SAP HANA, consuming CPU and I/O resources during backup, causing contention and performance degradation. Option B is unlikely because with RAID 0 the aggregate IOPS is higher than the provisioned per volume limit. Option C is incorrect because the S3 bucket is in the same region as stated. Option D is incorrect because the r5.4xlarge instance supports EBS optimization and is suitable for Backint.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The Backint agent is consuming CPU and I/O resources, causing contention.
Why this is correct
Backint runs on the HANA host and uses resources, impacting performance.
- ✗
The EBS volumes have reached the provisioned IOPS limit of 20,000 IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
The volumes are striped; the aggregate IOPS is higher.
- ✗
The S3 bucket is in a different region, causing network latency.
Why it's wrong here
The bucket is in the same region.
- ✗
The EC2 instance type does not match the requirements for Backint.
Why it's wrong here
Backint does not require a specific instance type.
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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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.