PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
{
"AWSTemplateFormatVersion": "2010-09-09",
"Resources": {
"SAPAppServer": {
"Type": "AWS::AutoScaling::AutoScalingGroup",
"Properties": {
"AvailabilityZones": ["us-east-1a", "us-east-1b"],
"LaunchConfigurationName": {"Ref": "LaunchConfig"},
"MinSize": "1",
"MaxSize": "5",
"DesiredCapacity": "2"
}
},
"LaunchConfig": {
"Type": "AWS::AutoScaling::LaunchConfiguration",
"Properties": {
"ImageId": "ami-0abcdef1234567890",
"InstanceType": "m5.large",
"SecurityGroups": [{"Ref": "SGSAP"}]
}
}
}
}An administrator creates a CloudFormation stack with the template shown in the exhibit. The stack creates an Auto Scaling group with a desired capacity of 2. However, only one instance is launched. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse capacity constraints with instance type availability (Option A) or misinterpret MinSize as a hard limit on the number of instances (Option D), when in fact Auto Scaling groups can launch more instances than MinSize as long as they do not exceed MaxSize.
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
✓
The Auto Scaling group is unable to launch the second instance due to capacity constraints.
The Auto Scaling group's desired capacity of 2 cannot be met if there are insufficient EC2 instance resources (e.g., vCPU, memory, or network capacity) in the selected Availability Zones. AWS Auto Scaling will launch as many instances as possible up to the desired capacity, but if the second instance launch fails due to a capacity constraint (e.g., insufficient m5.large capacity in the specified AZs), only one instance will be launched. The stack creation will still succeed, but the Auto Scaling group will remain at the lower count until capacity becomes available.
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 instance type m5.large is not available in the selected AZs.
Why it's wrong here
M5 is generally available.
- ✗
The DesiredCapacity is set incorrectly to 1.
Why it's wrong here
DesiredCapacity is set to 2.
- ✓
The Auto Scaling group is unable to launch the second instance due to capacity constraints.
Why this is correct
Capacity constraints in the AZs could prevent launching additional instances.
- ✗
The MinSize is set to 1, so only one instance is allowed.
Why it's wrong here
MinSize is 1, but DesiredCapacity is 2, so it should launch 2.
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