PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
An SAP administrator notices that the SAP application server is unable to establish an RFC connection to the SAP HANA database. The database is running on an EC2 instance in the same VPC. Security groups and NACLs allow all traffic. What is the most likely cause?
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 application server is configured to connect to the wrong port number.
The SAP HANA database listens on a specific TCP port, typically 3<instance_number>13 (e.g., 30013 for instance 00). If the application server is configured with a different port number, it cannot establish an RFC connection. Option C is correct because a port mismatch is a common misconfiguration. Option A (overlapping CIDR) would cause routing issues at the network layer, but since security groups and NACLs allow all traffic, this is less likely. Option B (UDP protocol) is incorrect because RFC connections use TCP, not UDP. Option D (reboot) would be temporary and the connection would resume after the database restarts.
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 VPC has overlapping CIDR blocks with the on-premises network.
Why it's wrong here
Overlapping CIDR would affect routing, not RFC port connectivity.
- ✗
The application server uses TCP instead of the required UDP protocol.
Why it's wrong here
RFC connections typically use TCP.
- ✓
The application server is configured to connect to the wrong port number.
Why this is correct
HANA uses port 3<instance number>13. Misconfiguration is a common issue.
- ✗
The HANA database instance was rebooted for maintenance.
Why it's wrong here
A reboot would cause temporary outage, but the symptom is persistent.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,616 original PAS-C01 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.