The answer is to migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS. This is correct because io2 Block Express is specifically engineered for SAP HANA’s demanding workload, delivering consistent high IOPS and low latency even under peak loads, unlike gp2 volumes whose performance degrades when burst credits are exhausted. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of storage performance characteristics for mission-critical databases; a common trap is assuming that simply increasing gp2 volume size or using RAID 0 will guarantee consistent performance, but those approaches fail to provide the deterministic, sub-millisecond latency that io2 Block Express offers. Remember the memory tip: “IO2 for I/O—consistent and low, gp2 for general, not peak flow.”
PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of technology. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 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 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.
Option D is correct: EBS io2 Block Express volumes provide high, consistent IOPS and low latency, suitable for SAP HANA. Option A is incorrect because RAID 0 increases risk and doesn't guarantee consistency. Option B is incorrect because throughput-optimized volumes (st1) are not designed for high IOPS. Option C is incorrect because increasing volume size for gp2 only increases baseline IOPS but not consistently under high load.
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.
✗
Switch to EBS st1 (Throughput Optimized HDD) volumes.
Why it's wrong here
B is wrong: st1 is for sequential I/O, not high IOPS.
✓
Migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
Why this is correct
D is correct: io2 Block Express provides consistent high IOPS and low latency.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure multiple EBS gp2 volumes in a RAID 0 array to increase IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
A is wrong: RAID 0 increases throughput but does not guarantee consistent performance.
✗
Increase the size of the existing gp2 volumes to gain higher baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
C is wrong: gp2 burst credits can be exhausted during sustained loads.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Technology — This question tests Technology — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Migrate to EBS io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS. — Option D is correct: EBS io2 Block Express volumes provide high, consistent IOPS and low latency, suitable for SAP HANA. Option A is incorrect because RAID 0 increases risk and doesn't guarantee consistency. Option B is incorrect because throughput-optimized volumes (st1) are not designed for high IOPS. Option C is incorrect because increasing volume size for gp2 only increases baseline IOPS but not consistently under high load.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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 →
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. A company is running SAP HANA on an EC2 instance with multiple EBS volumes for data and log. The instance is experiencing high write latency on the log volume. The administrator notices that the log volume is a gp2 EBS volume with 1,000 GB size and 3,000 IOPS baseline. The average write IOPS to the log volume is 4,000, with peaks up to 5,500. Which action should the administrator take to resolve the latency?
hard
✓ A.Replace the gp2 volume with an io2 Block Express volume provisioned at 6,000 IOPS.
B.Change the volume type to st1 (throughput optimized) to improve throughput.
C.Add a second log volume and stripe them using LVM.
D.Increase the gp2 volume size to 2,000 GB to double the baseline IOPS.
Why A: Option B is correct because io2 Block Express volumes provide high IOPS and low latency, suitable for HANA log. Option A is wrong because adding more volumes does not help single volume performance. Option C is wrong because increasing volume size increases baseline IOPS but gp2 max is 16,000, but io2 is better. Option D is wrong because throughput is not the issue.
Variation 2. A company is running an SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database experiences high write latency during peak hours. Which configuration change would most effectively reduce latency?
medium
A.Switch to gp3 EBS volumes with maximum throughput.
B.Increase the EC2 instance size to a compute-optimized type.
✓ C.Use EBS io2 Block Express volumes with multi-attach enabled.
D.Migrate the data to instance store volumes.
Why C: Option B is correct because using EBS io2 Block Express volumes provides consistent low latency and high IOPS for demanding workloads like SAP HANA. Option A is wrong because gp3 volumes have lower performance compared to io2 Block Express. Option C is wrong because increasing instance size may not directly address storage latency. Option D is wrong because instance store volumes are ephemeral and not suitable for persistent database storage.
Variation 3. A company has an SAP HANA database running on an EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The database requires 10,000 IOPS consistently. The current volume type is gp3 with 3000 IOPS. Which change should be made to meet the IOPS requirement?
hard
✓ A.Change the volume type to io2 Block Express and provision 10,000 IOPS.
B.Increase the volume size of the gp3 volume to automatically increase IOPS.
C.Increase the IOPS on the existing gp3 volume to 10,000.
D.Add an instance store volume and move the data to it.
Why A: Option A is correct because io2 Block Express volumes can provision up to 256,000 IOPS. Option B is wrong because gp3 max IOPS is 16,000 but you can increase IOPS. However, io2 is better for high IOPS. Option C is wrong because instance store is ephemeral. Option D is wrong because increasing volume size on gp3 doesn't necessarily increase IOPS beyond baseline.
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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.
Question Discussion
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