PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
An SAP system running on AWS has a recurring issue where the SAP application server becomes unresponsive every evening at 8 PM. The administrator suspects a batch job causing high CPU usage. Which set of AWS services can best help identify the root cause?
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
✓
Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager Run Command
(Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager Run Command) is correct because CloudWatch monitors CPU metrics (e.g., CPUUtilization) to identify high usage patterns, and Run Command can execute scripts on the EC2 instance to collect OS-level logs, process lists, and batch job details during the incident. This combination provides both metric visibility and remediation/forensic capabilities. Option A (X-Ray) is for application tracing, not OS-level CPU analysis. Option B (CloudTrail) logs API calls, not OS metrics. Option C (Lambda) lacks native OS command execution; Run Command provides direct, secure access to collect logs without additional setup.
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
Why it's wrong here
X-Ray traces application requests but not OS-level CPU usage.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch and AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not OS-level processes.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch can collect CPU metrics and Lambda can trigger on events, but neither service provides the granular, process-level visibility needed to identify which specific batch job is causing high CPU usage on the SAP application server. CloudWatch lacks native agent-based profiling of individual processes, and Lambda cannot execute interactive diagnostics on the server. This combination is tempting because CloudWatch monitors resource utilisation and Lambda automates responses, which would be correct for a scenario requiring threshold-based alerting and automated remediation, such as restarting an instance when CPU exceeds a limit.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch and AWS Systems Manager Run Command
Why this is correct
CloudWatch monitors metrics, Run Command can collect logs and process information.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.