PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
A company runs SAP S/4HANA on AWS with a multi-Node HA cluster using Pacemaker and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. The SAP application and database are on separate EC2 instances. After a planned failover test, the secondary node fails to take over the database role. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume the failover failure is due to replication mode or storage configuration, but the root cause is the mandatory fencing requirement in Pacemaker clusters, which is a fundamental design principle for HA in SAP on AWS.
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
✓
STONITH fencing is not configured for the cluster.
In a Pacemaker HA cluster, STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) fencing is mandatory to ensure that a failed node is forcibly isolated before the cluster can safely promote the secondary node. Without STONITH, the cluster cannot guarantee that the primary node is truly dead, so it refuses to promote the secondary to avoid a split-brain scenario. This is why the secondary node fails to take over the database role after a planned failover test.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The SAP HANA system replication is using asynchronous mode.
Why it's wrong here
Asynchronous replication does not prevent failover.
- ✓
STONITH fencing is not configured for the cluster.
Why this is correct
Without STONITH, the secondary node cannot safely take over.
- ✗
The EBS volumes are not configured with multi-attach enabled.
Why it's wrong here
EBS multi-attach is not required for HANA HA on EC2.
- ✗
The SAP HANA system replication is not configured with ENSA2.
Why it's wrong here
ENSA2 is for SAP NetWeaver, not for HANA database failover.
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