The answer is that STONITH fencing is not configured for the cluster. This is the most likely cause because Pacemaker requires STONITH (Shoot The Other Node In The Head) to guarantee that a failed node is forcibly isolated before the cluster can safely promote the secondary node; without it, the cluster cannot rule out a split-brain scenario and will refuse to promote the secondary to take over the database role. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this tests your understanding that STONITH is mandatory for any Pacemaker HA cluster, especially for SAP HANA failover, and a common trap is assuming a planned failover will succeed without fencing configured. Remember the mnemonic: No STONITH, no promotion—the cluster will always block a failover if it cannot confirm the primary is truly dead.
PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 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?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
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.
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.
✗
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.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
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.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often 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.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Pacemaker relies on STONITH to enforce a 'no quorum policy' by powering off or resetting the unresponsive node via IPMI, iLO, or AWS EC2 API (e.g., `stonith:fence_ec2`). Without fencing, the cluster cannot safely transition resources because it cannot distinguish between a network partition and a node crash, leading to a deadlock where the secondary refuses to start the database. In AWS, STONITH is typically implemented using the `fence_ec2` agent, which calls the EC2 `StopInstances` API to isolate the failed node.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — This question tests Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: 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.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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