PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
An SAP system running on AWS is experiencing high latency for database writes. The database is running on an RDS instance with General Purpose (gp2) storage. What change will PROVIDE the most immediate performance improvement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume increasing storage size (Option C) will immediately boost IOPS, but they overlook the gp2 burst credit mechanism and the fact that Provisioned IOPS provides a guaranteed, immediate performance floor without relying on credits or size-dependent baselines.
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
✓
Change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1 or io2).
The SAP system is experiencing high latency for database writes, which is a latency-sensitive workload. General Purpose (gp2) storage provides a baseline of 3 IOPS per GB, but its burst model can lead to performance degradation under sustained high write loads. Changing to Provisioned IOPS (io1 or io2) guarantees consistent, low-latency I/O performance by allowing you to provision a specific number of IOPS independently of storage size, providing the most immediate performance improvement for write-heavy operations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Change the storage type to Provisioned IOPS (io1 or io2).
Why this is correct
Provides consistent low latency for writes.
- ✗
Add a read replica to offload read traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Does not improve write latency.
- ✗
Increase the allocated storage size to increase baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
May help but less effective than Provisioned IOPS.
- ✗
Enable Multi-AZ deployment.
Why it's wrong here
For availability, not performance.
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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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.