PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
A company runs SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) on AWS with an Oracle database. The system is deployed on a single EC2 instance with EBS volumes. The company has scheduled a maintenance window for applying Oracle patches. The database administrator (DBA) will apply the patches during the maintenance window, which requires the database to be shut down. The DBA wants to minimize downtime and ensure that if the patching fails, the system can be rolled back quickly. The current setup includes daily EBS snapshots of the data volume, but these are taken at midnight. What should the DBA do to minimize downtime and ensure a quick rollback?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates may overthink the solution and choose a more complex option like DMS or AMI, not realizing that a simple EBS snapshot taken immediately before patching provides the fastest and most cost-effective rollback for a single-instance SAP ECC with Oracle, as it avoids the overhead of instance recreation or replication setup.
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
✓
Create a snapshot of the EBS data volume immediately before applying the patches. If the patching fails, restore the volume from the snapshot.
Creating a snapshot of the EBS data volume immediately before applying the patches captures a point-in-time, crash-consistent state of the Oracle database. Since the database will be shut down during the maintenance window, this snapshot provides a reliable restore point. If patching fails, the DBA can quickly restore the volume from this snapshot, minimizing downtime by avoiding the need to restore from the older midnight snapshot, which would lose an entire day's worth of transactions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a snapshot of the EBS data volume immediately before applying the patches. If the patching fails, restore the volume from the snapshot.
Why this is correct
A snapshot provides a quick rollback point without additional downtime.
- ✗
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) to create a replica of the database before patching. If patching fails, redirect traffic to the replica.
Why it's wrong here
DMS is for migration, not for quick rollback of a running database.
- ✗
Create an AMI of the entire EC2 instance before the maintenance window. If patching fails, launch a new instance from the AMI.
Why it's wrong here
Creating an AMI takes longer and may not be needed for just the data volume.
- ✗
Stop the EC2 instance, create a snapshot of the data volume, then apply the patches. If patching fails, restore from the snapshot.
Why it's wrong here
Stopping the instance adds unnecessary downtime.
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