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Question 906 of 1,733

Design of SAP Workloads on AWS →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Troubleshooting Uneven Traffic Distribution in NLB for SAP Application Servers

This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is experiencing performance issues during peak hours. The SAP application servers are running on EC2 instances behind a Network Load Balancer (NLB). The NLB is configured to use cross-zone load balancing. The issue is that one application server receives significantly more traffic than others. What is the most likely cause?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
The application servers have different instance sizes, causing the NLB to send more traffic to larger instances
Why wrong: NLB does not consider instance size for traffic distribution.
B
The NLB is using round-robin algorithm and one server is slower
Why wrong: NLB uses a flow hash algorithm, not round-robin.
C
The flow hash algorithm is causing an uneven distribution of client traffic
NLB uses a flow hash based on source IP, port, and protocol; with few clients, distribution can be uneven.
D
The health check is failing on the other servers
Why wrong: If health check fails, those servers would be removed from rotation; they are receiving less traffic, not more.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

The flow hash algorithm is causing an uneven distribution of client traffic

The Network Load Balancer (NLB) uses a flow hash algorithm based on the 5-tuple (source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, and protocol) to route traffic. This algorithm is designed to maintain session stickiness, but it can cause uneven distribution if a small number of clients generate a disproportionate amount of traffic, as each client's flows are consistently sent to the same target. Cross-zone load balancing distributes traffic across all targets in all enabled Availability Zones, but it does not alter the flow hash algorithm's per-flow routing, so one server can still receive more flows if its hash bucket is overloaded.

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.

✗
The application servers have different instance sizes, causing the NLB to send more traffic to larger instances
Why it's wrong here
NLB does not consider instance size for traffic distribution.
✗
The NLB is using round-robin algorithm and one server is slower
Why it's wrong here
NLB uses a flow hash algorithm, not round-robin.
✓
The flow hash algorithm is causing an uneven distribution of client traffic
Why this is correct
NLB uses a flow hash based on source IP, port, and protocol; with few clients, distribution can be uneven.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The health check is failing on the other servers
Why it's wrong here
If health check fails, those servers would be removed from rotation; they are receiving less traffic, not more.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often assume cross-zone load balancing alone ensures even distribution, but they overlook that the NLB's flow hash algorithm inherently causes per-flow stickiness, which can lead to imbalance when a small number of clients generate many flows.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

The NLB's flow hash algorithm uses a consistent hashing mechanism that maps each unique 5-tuple to a specific target, ensuring that all packets from a single client connection are sent to the same target for session persistence. In scenarios with a few high-volume clients (e.g., SAP GUI users or batch jobs), the hash can concentrate many flows on one target, leading to imbalance. This is distinct from Application Load Balancers, which offer a round-robin algorithm and can use a least outstanding requests routing algorithm to improve distribution.

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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PAS-C01 question test?

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: The flow hash algorithm is causing an uneven distribution of client traffic — The Network Load Balancer (NLB) uses a flow hash algorithm based on the 5-tuple (source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, and protocol) to route traffic. This algorithm is designed to maintain session stickiness, but it can cause uneven distribution if a small number of clients generate a disproportionate amount of traffic, as each client's flows are consistently sent to the same target. Cross-zone load balancing distributes traffic across all targets in all enabled Availability Zones, but it does not alter the flow hash algorithm's per-flow routing, so one server can still receive more flows if its hash bucket is overloaded.

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.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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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.