PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
A company wants to automate the start and stop of SAP EC2 instances during non-business hours to reduce costs. Which AWS service is best suited for this task?
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 Instance Scheduler
(AWS Instance Scheduler) is correct because it is a dedicated solution to automate instance start/stop on a schedule. Option A (AWS Auto Scaling) is for scaling based on demand, not scheduling. Option B (Amazon CloudWatch Events) can trigger Lambda but requires custom code. Option D (AWS Systems Manager) can run commands but is not purpose-built for 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.
- ✗
AWS Auto Scaling
Why it's wrong here
Auto Scaling is for dynamic scaling, not scheduled start/stop.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Events
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Events can trigger Lambda but requires custom scripting.
- ✓
AWS Instance Scheduler
Why this is correct
Instance Scheduler is designed specifically for scheduled start/stop.
- ✗
AWS Systems Manager
Why it's wrong here
Systems Manager can run automation but is not the simplest solution.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PAS-C01 question from scratch — 1,616 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PAS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which TWO AWS services can be used to automate the start and stop of SAP EC2 instances based on a schedule? (Select TWO.)
easy- ✓ A.AWS Lambda with CloudWatch Events
- B.AWS Systems Manager Run Command
- ✓ C.AWS Instance Scheduler
- D.AWS Auto Scaling
- E.AWS OpsWorks
Why A: The correct answers are A (AWS Lambda with CloudWatch Events) and C (AWS Instance Scheduler). Option A allows you to run a custom Lambda function triggered by CloudWatch Events on a schedule (e.g., cron expression) to start or stop EC2 instances. Option C is a purpose-built AWS solution for scheduling instance start and stop times. Options B (Systems Manager Run Command) is used for ad-hoc command execution, not for recurring scheduling. Option D (Auto Scaling) manages capacity based on scaling policies, not for scheduled start/stop of existing instances. Option E (AWS OpsWorks) is a configuration management service (Chef/Puppet) and not designed for scheduling instance power states.
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.