Question 413 of 1,733
Operations and MaintenancemediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question

This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. 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.

A company runs an SAP HANA database on an r5.8xlarge EC2 instance. The operations team notices that the instance's CPU utilization spikes to 100% every night at 2 AM, causing SAP application timeouts. CloudWatch metrics show the spike corresponds to a backup process. Which action should be taken to resolve the issue?

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

Move the backup window to an earlier time when the system is less active.

Option A is correct because rescheduling the backup to a less active time reduces CPU contention directly. Option B is wrong because increasing instance size is costly and does not address the underlying scheduling issue. Option C is wrong because disabling backups compromises data protection. Option D is wrong because restarting the instance via CloudWatch alarm is a reactive measure that may cause data loss or downtime and does not fix the root cause.

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.

  • Move the backup window to an earlier time when the system is less active.

    Why this is correct

    Option A is correct because rescheduling the backup to a less active time reduces CPU contention directly.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • Increase the instance size to handle the backup load.

    Why it's wrong here

    Option B is wrong because increasing instance size is costly and does not address the underlying scheduling issue.

  • Disable the nightly backup.

    Why it's wrong here

    Option C is wrong because disabling backups compromises data protection.

  • Implement CloudWatch alarm to restart the instance when CPU is high.

    Why it's wrong here

    Option D is wrong because restarting the instance via a CloudWatch alarm is a reactive measure that does not resolve the root cause (backup CPU contention) and may cause downtime or data loss.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
  • Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

  • Underline the problem statement mentally.
  • 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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

Visual reference

Client Recursive Resolver Root DNS (13 root servers) TLD DNS (.com, .org, …) Authoritative example.com query IP addr answer

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PAS-C01 question test?

Operations and Maintenance — This question tests Operations and Maintenance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Move the backup window to an earlier time when the system is less active. — Option A is correct because rescheduling the backup to a less active time reduces CPU contention directly. Option B is wrong because increasing instance size is costly and does not address the underlying scheduling issue. Option C is wrong because disabling backups compromises data protection. Option D is wrong because restarting the instance via CloudWatch alarm is a reactive measure that may cause data loss or downtime and does not fix the root cause.

What should I do if I get this PAS-C01 question wrong?

Identify which PAS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026

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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.