PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
A company runs SAP S/4HANA on AWS. The system is deployed in a cluster across two Availability Zones using Pacemaker for high availability. The primary SAP HANA node fails, and the failover to the secondary node is successful. However, after failover, the application servers cannot connect to the database because the database IP address changed. The application servers are configured to use the IP address of the primary node. The company needs a solution that allows the application servers to connect to the active database node without reconfiguration after failover. Which solution should the company implement?
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
✓
Deploy an internal Network Load Balancer (NLB) with a static IP and target the HANA nodes
An internal Network Load Balancer (NLB) with a static IP provides a stable endpoint for application servers. The NLB forwards traffic to the active HANA node, so no reconfiguration is needed after failover. Option A is incorrect because using Route 53 DNS with health checks introduces DNS caching and TTL delays, causing application servers to use stale IPs after failover. Option B is incorrect because associating an Elastic IP via script is not seamless and may require manual intervention or scripting, and Elastic IP reassignment can have delays. Option C is incorrect because a CNAME record still points to a DNS name with TTL delays and does not automatically update to the active node's IP; it also would require the primary node's DNS name to be updated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Amazon Route 53 DNS with a health check to point to the active node's IP
Why it's wrong here
Using Route 53 DNS with a health check can update DNS records, but due to DNS caching and TTL, application servers may continue using the old IP for some time, causing connection failures. This is not seamless.
- ✗
Associate an Elastic IP address to the active node using a script during failover
Why it's wrong here
Associating an Elastic IP to the active node via script can work but adds complexity and potential delays. Elastic IP reassignment is not instantaneous and if the instance fails, the IP may not be released immediately. Not the best solution.
- ✗
Configure a CNAME record in Route 53 that points to the primary node's DNS name
Why it's wrong here
A CNAME record that points to the primary node's DNS name does not help because after failover, the primary node's DNS name would still resolve to the failed node's IP unless updated dynamically, which has TTL issues.
- ✓
Deploy an internal Network Load Balancer (NLB) with a static IP and target the HANA nodes
Why this is correct
An internal NLB with a static IP provides a fixed endpoint. The NLB health checks and forwards traffic to the healthy HANA node, ensuring application servers can always connect to the active database without any configuration changes.
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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.