The correct answer is to change the health check endpoint to a static page that does not require database connectivity. This is the right approach because an Application Load Balancer health check should validate the web server’s ability to serve HTTP traffic, not the availability of backend dependencies like Amazon RDS. When the health check endpoint relies on a database connection, a temporary database outage causes a 503 status code, marking all web servers as unhealthy and triggering a cascading failure that removes the entire Auto Scaling group from service. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of decoupling health checks from application dependencies to maintain high availability for SAP workloads. A common trap is assuming you should fix the database connection or increase the health check interval, but the core principle is that health checks must be independent of external services. Remember the memory tip: “Keep your health checks shallow, not deep”—validate the server, not the stack.
PAS-C01 Technology Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of technology. 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.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
Health check failed on target group 'tg-app' with the following:
- Target: i-0abc123def456 (10.0.1.5:8080)
- Health check protocol: HTTP
- Health check path: /health
- Health check response: 503 Service Unavailable
- The application logs show: "Health check endpoint /health is returning 503 due to database connection timeout."
Refer to the exhibit. An Application Load Balancer is configured to route traffic to an Auto Scaling group of web servers. The health check for the target group is failing. The web servers are healthy and running, but the health check endpoint is returning a 503 status code because the application cannot connect to the database. The database is an Amazon RDS instance in the same VPC. Which action should the solutions architect take to resolve the health check failure?
Refer to the exhibit.
Health check failed on target group 'tg-app' with the following:
- Target: i-0abc123def456 (10.0.1.5:8080)
- Health check protocol: HTTP
- Health check path: /health
- Health check response: 503 Service Unavailable
- The application logs show: "Health check endpoint /health is returning 503 due to database connection timeout."
A
Restart the web server instances to reset the database connection.
Why wrong: Restarting does not fix the root cause of the database connection timeout.
B
Change the health check endpoint to a static page that does not require database connectivity.
A static health check page will return 200 even if the database is down, allowing the instance to pass the health check.
C
Modify the application's health check endpoint to return a 200 OK status even when the database is unavailable.
Why wrong: Masking the failure would cause traffic to be sent to unhealthy instances.
D
Increase the health check interval to allow more time for the database to respond.
Why wrong: Increasing the interval does not fix the underlying database connectivity issue.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Change the health check endpoint to a static page that does not require database connectivity.
Option B is correct because the health check endpoint should validate the web server's ability to serve traffic, not the database's availability. By changing the health check to a static page (e.g., /health.html) that does not depend on database connectivity, the load balancer will correctly assess the web server's health independently. This decouples the health check from the database, preventing cascading failures where a database outage causes all web servers to be marked unhealthy and removed from the target group.
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.
✗
Restart the web server instances to reset the database connection.
Why it's wrong here
Restarting does not fix the root cause of the database connection timeout.
✓
Change the health check endpoint to a static page that does not require database connectivity.
Why this is correct
A static health check page will return 200 even if the database is down, allowing the instance to pass the health check.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Modify the application's health check endpoint to return a 200 OK status even when the database is unavailable.
Why it's wrong here
Masking the failure would cause traffic to be sent to unhealthy instances.
✗
Increase the health check interval to allow more time for the database to respond.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing the interval does not fix the underlying database connectivity issue.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think the health check must reflect the full application stack (including database connectivity), but AWS best practice is to keep health checks lightweight and independent of external dependencies to prevent cascading failures.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Application Load Balancer health checks use HTTP(S) requests to a specified endpoint (default: /) and expect a 200-399 status code to consider the target healthy. A 503 Service Unavailable indicates the application layer is functional but cannot fulfill the request due to a downstream dependency (e.g., database). In production, it is a best practice to implement separate health check endpoints: a shallow check (e.g., /health) that verifies the web server process is running, and a deep check (e.g., /health/db) for internal monitoring, to avoid the load balancer removing healthy servers during a database outage.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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.
Technology — This question tests Technology — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Change the health check endpoint to a static page that does not require database connectivity. — Option B is correct because the health check endpoint should validate the web server's ability to serve traffic, not the database's availability. By changing the health check to a static page (e.g., /health.html) that does not depend on database connectivity, the load balancer will correctly assess the web server's health independently. This decouples the health check from the database, preventing cascading failures where a database outage causes all web servers to be marked unhealthy and removed from the target group.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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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. An SAP system on AWS is configured with an Application Load Balancer (ALB) for health checks. The ALB marks all targets as unhealthy. The health check path is /sap/public/health.html, and the SAP Web Dispatcher is configured to serve this file. What is the most likely cause of the health check failure?
hard
A.The health check path is incorrect.
✓ B.The security group for the Web Dispatcher does not allow traffic from the ALB.
C.The health check port is wrong.
D.The ALB is in a different VPC.
Why B: ALB health checks originate from private IP addresses within the VPC. If the SAP Web Dispatcher's security group does not allow inbound traffic from the ALB's security group, the health check requests will be blocked. Path or port issues would also cause failures, but the most common cause is security group misconfiguration.
Variation 2. Refer to the exhibit. An SAP application load balancer (ALB) is configured with the CloudFormation snippet. The ALB is not distributing traffic to the EC2 instances. What is the most likely cause?
hard
A.The security group does not allow inbound traffic
B.The target type is instance but the instances are not registered
✓ C.The target group is not associated with the load balancer
D.The load balancer scheme is internet-facing but instances are in private subnets
Why C: The snippet does not include a listener for the ALB. Without a listener, the ALB cannot accept traffic. The target group is defined but not associated with the ALB via a listener rule. The scheme is internet-facing, which is correct. The security group may allow traffic, but no listener exists.
Variation 3. An SAP system uses an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to distribute traffic to web servers. The ALB is configured with a health check that fails, causing the web servers to be marked as unhealthy. What is a possible reason for the health check failure?
easy
A.The instance is in a private subnet
B.The instance type is not supported by the ALB
C.The security group for the ALB does not allow outbound traffic
✓ D.The web server is not configured to respond to the health check path
Why D: A common health check failure is when the health check path (e.g., /health) returns a non-200 status code. The security group allowing traffic from the ALB is required. Instance type does not affect health check. The subnet is not a direct cause.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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