PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
A company wants to automate the backup of their SAP HANA database running on an EC2 instance. The backup should be stored in Amazon S3 and retained for 30 days. Which AWS service can be used to schedule and manage these backups?
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
✓
AWS Backup
AWS Backup. AWS Backup is a fully managed backup service that can be used to automate backups of EC2 instances, including SAP HANA databases, and store backups in Amazon S3. It allows scheduling and retention policies. Option A (AWS Lambda) can be used but requires custom code and is not the primary service for managing backups. Option B (Amazon S3 Lifecycle policies) manages object lifecycle transitions and deletions, not scheduling backups. Option C (AWS Storage Gateway) provides hybrid storage connectivity, not backup scheduling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
While AWS Lambda can execute code in response to triggers, it lacks native scheduling and lifecycle management for database backups; the scenario requires a service that can orchestrate recurring backup jobs and enforce a 30-day retention policy on S3 objects, which Lambda alone cannot do without extensive custom code and additional services. It is tempting because Lambda is often used for event-driven automation tasks, such as invoking a backup script on a schedule via Amazon EventBridge, and would be a correct choice if the requirement were simply to run a custom backup function without needing built-in retention enforcement.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Lifecycle policies
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle policies manage retention, not scheduling.
- ✗
AWS Storage Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Storage Gateway is for hybrid storage, not backup scheduling.
- ✓
AWS Backup
Why this is correct
AWS Backup automates backups and can store in S3.
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 |
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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.