PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
An SAP system on AWS is experiencing high latency in database transactions. The SAP HANA database is running on an r5.24xlarge instance with GP3 EBS volumes. CloudWatch metrics show high Write IOPS but low Read IOPS. The application team expects high write throughput. What should be changed to improve write performance?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume increasing GP3 IOPS (Option C) is sufficient, but they overlook that GP3's maximum IOPS (16,000) and throughput limits may still be inadequate for sustained high write throughput, whereas io2 Block Express is the only option that guarantees both high IOPS and low latency for SAP HANA workloads.
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
✓
Switch to io2 Block Express volumes with higher IOPS
The workload requires high write throughput, and GP3 volumes have a baseline IOPS of 16,000 with a maximum of 16,000 IOPS at no additional cost, but burst credits are limited. io2 Block Express volumes offer up to 256,000 IOPS with consistent sub-millisecond latency, which directly addresses the high write IOPS demand without throttling. This aligns with SAP HANA's requirement for predictable, high-performance storage for database transactions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the EBS read throughput
Why it's wrong here
Read throughput is not the issue.
- ✗
Use a larger instance type like r6i.32xlarge
Why it's wrong here
Instance size does not fix EBS performance limits.
- ✗
Increase the GP3 volume IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Increasing GP3 volume IOPS is tempting because it directly impacts storage performance and is a common adjustment for I/O-bound workloads. It would be the correct choice if CloudWatch metrics indicated the volume was hitting its provisioned IOPS limit, causing a bottleneck in the *number* of I/O operations. However, this scenario states "high Write IOPS" already, implying the system is performing many operations. The problem is high latency and the expectation of "high write throughput", suggesting the bottleneck is the *data transfer rate* (MB/s) rather than the count of operations. GP3 throughput can be scaled independently up to 1000 MB/s, addressing the data transfer capacity directly.
- ✓
Switch to io2 Block Express volumes with higher IOPS
Why this is correct
io2 provides consistent high IOPS for write-heavy workloads.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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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.