PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
An SAP administrator is setting up backup for an SAP HANA database running on an EC2 instance. The database is 1 TB in size. Which TWO AWS services can be used to create a cost-effective backup strategy?
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
Options C and D are correct. AWS Backup is a managed service that can automate and centralize backups of EBS volumes, including those used by SAP HANA on EC2. Amazon EBS snapshots directly back up the volumes hosting the HANA database; incremental snapshots are cost-effective for a 1 TB database. Option A (AWS DMS) is for database migration, not backup. Option B (AWS Storage Gateway) is for hybrid cloud storage integration, not directly for backing up HANA databases on EC2. Option E (Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies) is not directly used for HANA backups without additional tools like backint.
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 Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why it's wrong here
DMS is for migration, not backup.
- ✗
AWS Storage Gateway
Why it's wrong here
Storage Gateway is for hybrid cloud storage, not direct HANA backup.
- ✓
AWS Backup
Why this is correct
AWS Backup integrates directly with SAP HANA on EC2 via the Backint agent, enabling full, incremental, and differential backups to Amazon S3 without requiring separate backup software. This satisfies the 1 TB database size constraint by using S3’s low-cost storage tiers (e.g., S3 Standard-IA or Glacier) for long-term retention, reducing costs compared to EBS snapshots alone.
- ✓
Amazon EBS snapshots
Why this is correct
EBS snapshots are a common method for backing up HANA database volumes.
- ✗
Amazon S3 with lifecycle policies
Why it's wrong here
S3 is object storage; HANA backups typically go to EBS snapshots or AWS Backup.
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 |
Go deeper
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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