Quick Answer
The correct Availability Zone for the secondary SAP HANA instance is us-east-1b. This is because SAP HANA high availability requires the standby instance to be deployed in a different Availability Zone within the same AWS Region to support synchronous replication and multi-AZ resilience, and us-east-1b is the only other zone listed that is distinct from the primary us-east-1a. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that Availability Zone names are logical and specific to each AWS account, so you must choose a zone with a different suffix (e.g., 1b vs. 1a) rather than assuming any zone works. A common trap is selecting a zone from a different region or the same zone letter, which would violate the high-availability architecture. Remember the memory tip: “Different letter, same region” — for multi-AZ SAP HANA, always pick a zone with a different suffix within the same region code to ensure fault isolation and low-latency replication.
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An SAP administrator runs the AWS CLI command shown in the exhibit to check the configuration of an SAP HANA EC2 instance. The instance is running in us-east-1a. They need to deploy a second SAP HANA instance for high availability in a different Availability Zone. Which Availability Zone should be used?
us-west-2a
Why wrong: Different region is for DR, not HA.
us-east-1b
Different AZ in same region provides HA.
Any Availability Zone
Why wrong: Must be different from primary.
us-east-1a
Why wrong: Same AZ does not provide HA.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
us-east-1b
Option B is correct because for SAP HANA high availability, the secondary instance must be deployed in a different Availability Zone within the same AWS Region to achieve multi-AZ resilience. Since the primary instance is in us-east-1a, the correct choice is us-east-1b, which is a distinct Availability Zone in the same region (us-east-1). This ensures low-latency replication and compliance with SAP's requirement for synchronous replication within a single region.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
us-west-2a
Why it's wrong here
Different region is for DR, not HA.
us-east-1b
Why this is correct
Different AZ in same region provides HA.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Any Availability Zone
Why it's wrong here
Must be different from primary.
us-east-1a
Why it's wrong here
Same AZ does not provide HA.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse 'different Availability Zone' with 'different region' (option A) or assume any zone works (option C), but SAP HANA high availability specifically requires a different AZ within the same region to maintain synchronous replication and low latency.
Detailed technical explanation
SAP HANA system replication for high availability relies on synchronous replication between instances in different Availability Zones within the same AWS Region, typically using a quorum-based failover mechanism. AWS Availability Zones are physically separated with independent power, cooling, and networking, providing a latency of <2ms between zones in the same region, which is critical for SAP HANA's log write latency requirements. The AWS CLI command in the exhibit likely shows the instance's placement group or subnet, confirming the current AZ, and the secondary must be deployed in a different AZ (e.g., us-east-1b) to meet SAP's certified high availability architecture.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — This question tests Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: us-east-1b — Option B is correct because for SAP HANA high availability, the secondary instance must be deployed in a different Availability Zone within the same AWS Region to achieve multi-AZ resilience. Since the primary instance is in us-east-1a, the correct choice is us-east-1b, which is a distinct Availability Zone in the same region (us-east-1). This ensures low-latency replication and compliance with SAP's requirement for synchronous replication within a single region.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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