PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
An SAP system running on AWS is experiencing high CPU usage on the application server during peak hours. The system is already using the largest instance type available in the current generation. What is the most cost-effective solution to handle the peak load?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Auto Scaling (Option D) with SAP's native horizontal scaling, but Auto Scaling is not a standard SAP feature and requires significant custom implementation, making Option C the correct and most cost-effective answer.
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
✓
Add an additional SAP application server in the same Availability Zone
SAP on AWS supports horizontal scaling by adding more application servers to distribute the load, which is the most cost-effective approach when the current instance type is already the largest available. Option C correctly adds an additional SAP application server in the same Availability Zone, leveraging SAP's native architecture to handle peak CPU usage without incurring the cost of a larger, potentially unavailable instance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Upgrade to a larger instance type from a different instance family
Why it's wrong here
Largest instance already in use; upgrading may not be possible.
- ✗
Purchase Reserved Instances to reduce cost and allocate more resources
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances do not increase capacity.
- ✓
Add an additional SAP application server in the same Availability Zone
Why this is correct
Horizontal scaling distributes load across multiple servers.
- ✗
Use Auto Scaling to automatically add instances during peak hours
Why it's wrong here
Auto Scaling requires pre-configured instances; but adding instances is correct, but the option is incomplete.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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