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. 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 system on AWS uses a large memory instance (x1e.32xlarge) for HANA. The administrator notices that the system is experiencing high swap usage. The HANA memory usage is at 90% of physical RAM. The instance has 4 TB of RAM, and the HANA data size is 3.8 TB. The administrator wants to avoid swap usage to maintain performance. Which solution should be implemented?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Migrate to a larger instance type, such as u-6tb1, with more RAM.
The x1e.32xlarge instance has 4 TB of RAM, and with HANA using 90% (3.6 TB) and the data size at 3.8 TB, the memory is insufficient to hold the entire dataset, causing swap usage. Migrating to a u-6tb1 instance with 6 TB of RAM provides enough physical memory to accommodate the full HANA data footprint, eliminating the need for swap and maintaining performance.
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.
✓
Migrate to a larger instance type, such as u-6tb1, with more RAM.
Why this is correct
More RAM eliminates need for swap.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable swap space on the instance store volumes to offload memory pressure.
Why it's wrong here
Swap on instance store is still swap and degrades performance.
✗
Optimize HANA column store compression to reduce memory footprint.
Why it's wrong here
Compression may help but may not reduce enough; also, data size is close to RAM.
✗
Increase the provisioned IOPS on the EBS volumes to reduce I/O latency.
Why it's wrong here
Swap usage is due to insufficient RAM, not I/O.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think compression (Option C) is a quick fix, but they overlook that HANA's memory usage already includes compressed data, and the instance's RAM is simply too small for the dataset, making a larger instance the only viable solution.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SAP HANA is an in-memory database that relies on keeping all data in RAM for optimal performance; when memory is exhausted, the OS swaps pages to disk, causing severe latency spikes. The u-6tb1 instance is part of AWS's bare metal high-memory family, offering 6 TB of RAM, which is the next logical step when HANA data size approaches physical RAM limits. In real-world scenarios, HANA memory usage includes not just data but also row store, column store indexes, and internal buffers, so the actual memory requirement often exceeds the raw data size.
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: Migrate to a larger instance type, such as u-6tb1, with more RAM. — The x1e.32xlarge instance has 4 TB of RAM, and with HANA using 90% (3.6 TB) and the data size at 3.8 TB, the memory is insufficient to hold the entire dataset, causing swap usage. Migrating to a u-6tb1 instance with 6 TB of RAM provides enough physical memory to accommodate the full HANA data footprint, eliminating the need for swap and maintaining performance.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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