PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
A company runs its SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database requires consistent low-latency I/O with a high number of IOPS. The current configuration uses EBS gp2 volumes. During peak loads, the application experiences performance degradation. Which change will provide the most consistent performance for SAP HANA?
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
✓
Migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
EBS io2 Block Express volumes (Option B) provide provisioned IOPS with consistent low latency, making them ideal for SAP HANA workloads that require high and predictable performance. st1 volumes (Option A) are throughput-optimized HDDs and not designed for high IOPS. RAID 0 with gp2 volumes (Option C) can increase IOPS but lacks the consistency and guaranteed performance of io2. Increasing gp2 volume size (Option D) improves baseline IOPS but does not guarantee consistent performance under peak load like provisioned IOPS.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Switch to EBS st1 (Throughput Optimized HDD) volumes.
Why it's wrong here
st1 volumes are throughput-optimized HDDs and do not provide the high IOPS or low latency required for SAP HANA.
- ✓
Migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
Why this is correct
io2 Block Express volumes offer provisioned IOPS with consistent low latency, meeting the demanding I/O requirements of SAP HANA.
- ✗
Configure multiple EBS gp2 volumes in a RAID 0 array to increase IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
RAID 0 with gp2 volumes increases IOPS but does not provide the performance consistency and guarantees of io2 volumes.
- ✗
Increase the size of the existing gp2 volumes to gain higher baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing gp2 volume size raises baseline IOPS, but performance can still degrade under peak load because gp2 uses a burst model; io2 provides guaranteed IOPS.
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.