The answer is Amazon CloudWatch metrics and CloudWatch Alarms with Amazon SNS. This combination is correct because CloudWatch continuously collects CPU utilization metrics from the SAP HANA instance, and a CloudWatch Alarm evaluates whether the metric exceeds 90% for five consecutive minutes; when the threshold is breached, the alarm triggers an SNS notification to alert the administrator. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the simplest, most cost-effective monitoring path for SAP workloads—avoiding over-engineering with Lambda or misapplying services like AWS Config (for compliance) or X-Ray (for tracing). A common trap is assuming a custom solution is needed, but CloudWatch Alarms natively support sustained period evaluation. Memory tip: think "CloudWatch collects, Alarm checks, SNS alerts"—three services, no extras.
PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 Basis administrator is monitoring the health of an SAP HANA database on AWS. The administrator wants to receive alerts when the CPU utilization of the HANA instance exceeds 90% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which combination of AWS services should be used?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon CloudWatch metrics and CloudWatch Alarms with Amazon SNS
Option A is correct: CloudWatch collects metrics and Alarms trigger notifications via SNS. Option B (Lambda) is not needed for simple alarm. Option C (Config) is for compliance. Option D (X-Ray) is for tracing.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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 X-Ray and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
X-Ray traces requests, not CPU metrics.
✗
AWS CloudTrail and AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not CPU metrics.
✗
AWS Config and Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)
Why it's wrong here
Config evaluates resource configurations, not performance metrics.
✓
Amazon CloudWatch metrics and CloudWatch Alarms with Amazon SNS
Why this is correct
CloudWatch monitors CPU, alarms trigger on threshold, SNS sends notifications.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related PAS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Operations and Maintenance — This question tests Operations and Maintenance — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon CloudWatch metrics and CloudWatch Alarms with Amazon SNS — Option A is correct: CloudWatch collects metrics and Alarms trigger notifications via SNS. Option B (Lambda) is not needed for simple alarm. Option C (Config) is for compliance. Option D (X-Ray) is for tracing.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related PAS-C01 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An SAP administrator needs to monitor the CPU utilization of an EC2 instance running SAP NetWeaver. The administrator wants to receive an alert when CPU utilization exceeds 90% for 5 consecutive minutes. Which AWS service should be used?
easy
A.AWS CloudTrail
B.AWS Config
C.Amazon VPC Flow Logs
✓ D.Amazon CloudWatch Alarms
Why D: Option C is correct because Amazon CloudWatch Alarms can monitor metrics and trigger actions. Option A is wrong because CloudTrail logs API calls. Option B is wrong because AWS Config tracks resource configuration. Option D is wrong because VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
Question Discussion
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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.
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