PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company runs its SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database requires consistent high IOPS and low latency. The system is currently using EBS gp2 volumes, but performance is inconsistent during peak loads. Which TWO steps should the administrator take to improve storage performance? (Choose 2)
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
✓
Configure multiple EBS volumes in a RAID 0 stripe set.
Options C and D are correct. C: Configuring multiple EBS volumes in a RAID 0 stripe set increases throughput by combining I/O across volumes, which helps with peak loads. D: Migrating to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS ensures consistent high IOPS and low latency. A is incorrect because increasing gp2 volume size only raises baseline IOPS but does not guarantee consistent high IOPS during peak loads. B is incorrect because regular EBS snapshots do not improve performance and can degrade it during snapshot creation. E is incorrect because EBS-optimized instances are enabled by default for current generation instances and are not a storage performance improvement step.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the size of the existing gp2 volumes to increase baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Increasing the size of gp2 volumes increases baseline IOPS but does not guarantee consistent high IOPS during peak loads due to burst credit depletion.
- ✗
Take regular EBS snapshots to improve performance.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Regular EBS snapshots do not improve performance; they can cause temporary degradation during the snapshot process.
- ✓
Configure multiple EBS volumes in a RAID 0 stripe set.
Why this is correct
Correct. Configuring multiple EBS volumes in a RAID 0 stripe set combines I/O across volumes, thereby increasing throughput and IOPS to handle peak loads.
- ✓
Migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
Why this is correct
Correct. Migrating to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS provides consistent high IOPS and low latency, suitable for SAP HANA.
- ✗
Enable EBS-optimized on the EC2 instance.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. EBS-optimized instances are enabled by default and do not directly improve storage performance; they only ensure dedicated network bandwidth.
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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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.