Migrating to EBS io2 Block Express for Low-Latency SAP HANA
A company is running a business-critical SAP HANA database on an m5.24xlarge EC2 instance. The database stores 3 TB of data on EBS gp3 volumes. The system experiences high latency during peak hours. Which configuration change would most effectively reduce latency without increasing costs significantly?
Quick Answer
The answer is to migrate the EBS volumes to io2 Block Express volumes with the same capacity. This configuration change most effectively reduces latency for a business-critical SAP HANA database because io2 Block Express delivers consistent, sub-millisecond latency and up to 4,000 MB/s throughput per volume, far exceeding the performance ceiling of gp3, which suffers from burst limitations and higher latency under sustained peak loads. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of SAP HANA’s strict latency requirements and the specific EBS volume types optimized for them; a common trap is assuming that simply increasing gp3 IOPS or volume size will fix latency, but gp3’s architecture still introduces higher variability. Remember the memory tip: “For HANA, go io2 Block Express—gp3 can’t express low latency under stress.”
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume increasing gp3 IOPS or volume size is sufficient to fix latency, but they overlook that gp3's architecture introduces variable latency under sustained load, while io2 Block Express is specifically designed for consistent, low-latency performance required by critical databases like SAP HANA.
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
✓
Migrate the EBS volumes to io2 Block Express volumes with the same capacity.
Migrating to io2 Block Express volumes provides consistent, sub-millisecond latency and higher IOPS performance than gp3, which is essential for reducing high latency in a business-critical SAP HANA database during peak hours. This change addresses the latency issue without significantly increasing costs, as io2 Block Express offers a cost-effective balance of performance and durability for mission-critical workloads.
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 Provisioned IOPS of the gp3 volumes to the maximum supported.
Why it's wrong here
gp3 maximum IOPS is 16,000 per volume, which may not be sufficient and increases costs without the low latency of io2.
- ✗
Move the database to a larger instance type like x1e.32xlarge with more memory.
Why it's wrong here
This increases costs and does not directly address EBS latency.
- ✓
Migrate the EBS volumes to io2 Block Express volumes with the same capacity.
Why this is correct
io2 Block Express provides consistent single-digit millisecond latency and higher IOPS, ideal for SAP HANA.
- ✗
Increase the gp3 volume size to 4 TB to gain more baseline IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing gp3 volume size increases baseline IOPS but does not reduce latency as much as using io2 Block Express.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PAS-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company runs a critical SAP HANA database on an m5.24xlarge EC2 instance. The database has high transaction volume and requires low latency storage. The current setup uses EBS gp2 volumes with 10,000 IOPS. During peak hours, the database performance degrades due to IOPS burst balance depletion. Which storage solution should the company use to maintain consistent performance?
medium- A.Migrate to EBS gp3 volumes with provisioned IOPS of 10,000.
- B.Use EC2 Instance Store (NVMe SSD) for the database data and logs.
- ✓ C.Provision EBS io2 Block Express volumes with 10,000 provisioned IOPS.
- D.Move the database to Amazon EFS with provisioned throughput.
Why C: EBS io2 Block Express volumes provide consistent, low-latency performance with provisioned IOPS, making them the recommended choice for SAP HANA workloads. Option A is wrong because although gp3 volumes can provision 10,000 IOPS and would eliminate burst balance depletion, io2 Block Express is specifically designed for high-performance databases like SAP HANA, offering higher durability and consistent low-latency performance. Option B is wrong because Instance Store is ephemeral and data is lost if the instance stops. Option D is wrong because EFS is a file system, not suitable for block-level database storage.
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.