SAP HANA High Availability on AWS
Which TWO actions should an SAP administrator take to ensure high availability for an SAP HANA database on AWS? (Choose two.)
Quick Answer
Ensuring high availability for a HANA database on AWS combines two complementary ideas here: replicating the data itself, and deploying that replication across separate Availability Zones so a single AZ failure doesn't take down the whole system. Enabling SAP HANA system replication gives you data redundancy by continuously replicating the database to a secondary instance, and it's the mechanism that enables automatic failover within the region if the primary instance becomes unavailable. Pairing that with a Multi-AZ deployment, placing the primary and secondary instances in different Availability Zones, potentially coordinated through a cluster, is what actually protects against AZ-level failures specifically, since a replication target sitting in the same AZ as the primary wouldn't survive an outage that affects the whole AZ. The wrong options here each remove one piece of this redundancy: a single large instance is still a single point of failure no matter how much capacity it has, manual snapshots only capture point-in-time backups rather than providing continuous availability or automatic failover, and a single EBS volume is likewise a single point of failure with no redundancy built in. The general concept to take away is that high availability for a database usually requires both a replication mechanism and physical separation across failure domains; one without the other leaves a gap, since replication without AZ separation doesn't protect against AZ failure, and AZ separation without replication doesn't give you a synchronized standby to fail over to.
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
✓
Enable SAP HANA system replication
Options A and D are correct. Enabling SAP HANA system replication provides data redundancy and automatic failover within the same region. Using a Multi-AZ deployment (e.g., with Amazon EBS multi-attach or cluster) ensures the database is available across different Availability Zones, providing automatic failover and high availability. Option B is wrong because a single large instance is a single point of failure. Option C is wrong because manual snapshots are not automatic and do not provide high availability. Option E is wrong because a single EBS volume is a single point of failure and does not provide redundancy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Enable SAP HANA system replication
Why this is correct
Provides data redundancy across nodes.
- ✗
Deploy the database on a single large instance
Why it's wrong here
Single instance lacks redundancy.
- ✗
Schedule regular manual snapshots
Why it's wrong here
Manual snapshots are not automatic HA.
- ✓
Use a Multi-AZ deployment for the database
Why this is correct
Automatic failover across AZs.
- ✗
Use a single EBS volume with high IOPS
Why it's wrong here
Does not provide high availability.
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Same concept, more angles
2 more ways 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. Which TWO actions are required to set up automated failover for an SAP HANA database using AWS services? (Choose TWO.)
medium- ✓ A.Create an AWS Lambda function to reassign an Elastic IP address to the standby instance
- ✓ B.Configure a CloudWatch alarm to detect database failure
- C.Use an Amazon RDS Multi-AZ deployment for the HANA database
- D.Schedule a snapshot and restore on failure
- E.Store HANA data on Amazon EFS and mount it on both instances
Why A: Automated failover requires detecting failure and reassigning resources. CloudWatch alarms can detect database unavailability and trigger a Lambda to reassign the Elastic IP to the standby instance. Stopping the primary is unnecessary and might not be desired. Multi-AZ RDS is for non-HANA databases. EFS is not typically used for HANA failover. Snapshot restore is too slow for automated failover.
Variation 2. Which TWO actions should be taken to improve the high availability of a single-instance SAP HANA database running on EC2? (Choose two.)
medium- ✓ A.Set up HANA System Replication to a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone.
- B.Enable Multi-AZ on the RDS instance.
- C.Move the HANA data files to Amazon FSx for Lustre.
- D.Increase the instance size to a larger type.
- ✓ E.Configure automated EBS snapshots for the HANA data volumes.
Why A: HANA System Replication provides a standby instance in a different Availability Zone for automatic failover, improving high availability. Option E is correct because automated EBS snapshots enable point-in-time recovery, reducing recovery time after a failure. Option B is incorrect because Multi-AZ RDS is a feature for RDS databases, not for EC2-hosted SAP HANA. Option C is incorrect because moving HANA data files to FSx for Lustre does not inherently improve availability. Option D is incorrect because increasing instance size improves performance, not availability.
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.