The answer is SQL statement contention and locking issues in the HANA database. When HANA threads are predominantly waiting on lock wait events while CPU utilization sits at 95%, the CPU is being consumed by threads spinning or retrying on locked resources rather than performing productive work. This creates a vicious cycle where lock contention drives CPU saturation, even when storage metrics like EBS write latency remain normal at 2 ms. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between infrastructure bottlenecks (storage, network) and application-level database contention—a common trap is to blame the EC2 instance or EBS configuration when the real culprit is SQL locking. Remember the mnemonic: LOCK = CPU, meaning Lock contention Often Consumes CPU cycles without advancing transactions.
PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 troubleshooting a performance issue on an SAP HANA database running on AWS. The database is on an EC2 instance of type r5.12xlarge with 8 x 1 TB EBS io2 Block Express volumes configured for maximum IOPS. The application team reports that batch jobs are taking longer than expected. The administrator checks Amazon CloudWatch metrics and sees that the EBS write latency averages 2 ms, which is within the expected range. However, the CPU utilization is at 95% consistently during batch runs. The HANA index server is using 70% of the CPU. The administrator also notices that the HANA threads are mostly waiting on 'lock wait' events. What is the MOST likely cause of the performance issue?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
There are SQL statement contention and locking issues in the HANA database.
The high CPU utilization (95%) combined with HANA threads waiting on 'lock wait' events indicates that SQL statement contention and locking issues are the primary bottleneck. Lock waits occur when multiple transactions compete for the same database resources, causing threads to spin or block, which consumes CPU cycles without making progress. This explains why CPU is saturated despite EBS write latency being normal (2 ms) and IOPS being sufficient.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 EBS volumes are not providing enough IOPS for the workload.
Why it's wrong here
Write latency is acceptable, so IOPS is likely sufficient.
✗
The HANA parameter 'max_concurrency' is set too low.
Why it's wrong here
Lock waits are not directly related to max_concurrency.
✓
There are SQL statement contention and locking issues in the HANA database.
Why this is correct
Lock waits indicate contention, often from poor SQL or application design.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The EC2 instance type is undersized for the HANA workload.
Why it's wrong here
r5.12xlarge is suitable; CPU high due to contention, not capacity.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may attribute high CPU utilization to an undersized instance or insufficient IOPS, when in fact the CPU is busy spinning on lock waits, a classic symptom of application-level contention rather than infrastructure limits.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In SAP HANA, lock wait events occur when a transaction tries to acquire a lock on a row or table that is already held by another transaction, causing the waiting thread to spin or yield. This is often caused by poorly optimized SQL statements, missing indexes, or application-level serialization. The HANA lock manager uses a wait-die or wound-wait scheme to prevent deadlocks, but high contention can still lead to CPU saturation as threads repeatedly check lock status.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — This question tests Design of SAP Workloads on AWS — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: There are SQL statement contention and locking issues in the HANA database. — The high CPU utilization (95%) combined with HANA threads waiting on 'lock wait' events indicates that SQL statement contention and locking issues are the primary bottleneck. Lock waits occur when multiple transactions compete for the same database resources, causing threads to spin or block, which consumes CPU cycles without making progress. This explains why CPU is saturated despite EBS write latency being normal (2 ms) and IOPS being sufficient.
What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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 →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.