PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
A company runs SAP Business Suite on AWS with Oracle Database. The system is experiencing high read latency on the database server. The current storage configuration uses EBS gp2 volumes. Which change would most effectively reduce read latency?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume increasing gp2 volume size (Option B) or striping volumes (Option C) will solve latency issues, but the PAS-C01 exam tests the understanding that for consistent low-latency random I/O, provisioned IOPS volumes like io2 Block Express are required, not just higher throughput or IOPS aggregation.
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 io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
Io2 Block Express volumes provide consistent, high-performance IOPS with sub-millisecond latency, which directly addresses the high read latency issue. Unlike gp2, which relies on burst credits and has variable performance, io2 Block Express delivers provisioned IOPS up to 256,000 per volume, making it ideal for latency-sensitive SAP workloads with Oracle Database.
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 to io2 Block Express volumes with provisioned IOPS.
Why this is correct
Migrating to io2 Block Express volumes reduces read latency by providing consistent, high-performance IOPS with sub-millisecond latency, directly addressing the high read latency constraint of the gp2 burst-bucket model. Unlike gp2, which throttles performance when burst credits are exhausted, io2 Block Express delivers provisioned IOPS independently of volume size, ensuring sustained throughput for SAP’s read-heavy Oracle workloads.
- ✗
Increase the size of the EBS gp2 volumes to increase baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing size improves IOPS but latency may remain high.
- ✗
Configure a RAID 0 stripe across multiple EBS volumes.
Why it's wrong here
RAID 0 increases throughput, not reduces latency.
- ✗
Use EBS st1 volumes for better throughput.
Why it's wrong here
st1 is throughput-optimized, not suitable for low-latency database workloads.
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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