PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
An SAP on AWS deployment uses an Auto Scaling group for the SAP application tier. The application is stateless and can scale out and in based on CPU utilization. Which scaling policy should be used to add new instances during peak load and remove them when the load decreases?
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
✓
Target tracking scaling policy with a target CPU utilization of 70%.
A target tracking scaling policy is the simplest and most automated way to maintain a target CPU utilization. Option A is wrong because simple scaling does not adjust dynamically. Option C is wrong because step scaling requires manual configuration of steps. Option D is wrong because scheduled scaling is for predictable loads, not dynamic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Simple scaling policy based on CPU utilization.
Why it's wrong here
Simple scaling is less responsive.
- ✓
Target tracking scaling policy with a target CPU utilization of 70%.
Why this is correct
Target tracking automatically adjusts capacity to maintain the target.
- ✗
Step scaling policy with multiple steps for different CPU thresholds.
Why it's wrong here
A step scaling policy with multiple CPU thresholds can add or remove instances in fixed increments, but it lacks the ability to maintain a steady-state target metric. The SAP application tier requires a simple scale-out and scale-in based solely on CPU utilisation, which a target tracking policy achieves by automatically adjusting capacity to keep average CPU at a specified value. This option is tempting because step scaling is effective for applications with predictable, sudden load spikes that demand precise, manual threshold control, such as a batch processing job.
- ✗
Scheduled scaling policy to add instances during business hours.
Why it's wrong here
Scheduled scaling is not dynamic.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PAS-C01 question from scratch — 1,616 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. 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.