PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
An SAP administrator notices that the SAP application server on AWS is experiencing high latency when connecting to the SAP HANA database. The database is on a separate EC2 instance in the same VPC. What is the MOST likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse EBS optimization (storage I/O) with network performance, or assume that being in the same VPC automatically guarantees low latency, overlooking that Enhanced Networking is a required feature for high-performance workloads like SAP HANA.
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
✓
Enhanced Networking is not enabled on the EC2 instances.
High latency between an SAP application server and a SAP HANA database in the same VPC is most likely caused by Enhanced Networking not being enabled on the EC2 instances. Enhanced Networking uses the Elastic Network Adapter (ENA) to provide higher bandwidth, higher packet-per-second performance, and consistently lower inter-instance latencies. Without it, network traffic is handled by the Xen or Nitro hypervisor's default driver, which introduces additional overhead and latency, especially under the high-throughput, low-latency requirements of SAP HANA communication.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enhanced Networking is not enabled on the EC2 instances.
Why this is correct
Enhanced Networking reduces latency and packet drops.
- ✗
EBS optimization is not enabled on the application server.
Why it's wrong here
EBS optimization affects storage, not network latency.
- ✗
The HANA database is using a public IP address.
Why it's wrong here
Public IPs are not typical for internal communication.
- ✗
The instances are not in a placement group.
Why it's wrong here
Placement groups reduce latency but are not the most likely cause.
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