The answer is to deploy a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone and configure SAP HANA system replication. This solution directly addresses the need to reduce SAP HANA multi-AZ failover recovery time because synchronous replication maintains a fully synchronized standby database that can take over within minutes, eliminating the 45-minute log replay and EBS reattachment delay. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that Multi-AZ deployment with HANA system replication provides automatic failover and near-zero recovery point objectives, while common traps like increasing EBS volume size or using S3 fail to address recovery time objectives. The key insight is that recovery time is dominated by log replay, not storage size, so a pre-synchronized standby is essential. Memory tip: think “sync for speed” — synchronous replication slashes recovery time because the standby is already current, unlike asynchronous backups or snapshots.
PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of operations and maintenance. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 its SAP HANA database on an EC2 instance in a single Availability Zone. The system is critical and requires high availability. The current setup uses an EBS volume for data storage. During a recent failure simulation, the database took 45 minutes to recover because the EBS volume had to be reattached and the database had to replay logs. The operations team wants to reduce recovery time to less than 15 minutes. Which solution should they implement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone and configure SAP HANA system replication.
Option C is correct because using Multi-AZ deployment with synchronous replication ensures that a standby database is ready to take over immediately, reducing recovery time significantly. Option A is wrong because increasing EBS volume size does not reduce recovery time. Option B is wrong because Amazon S3 is not suitable for low-latency database storage. Option D is wrong because manual snapshots take time to restore and do not provide automatic failover.
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.
✓
Deploy a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone and configure SAP HANA system replication.
Why this is correct
Multi-AZ setup with HANA replication enables fast failover.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Backup to create more frequent snapshots.
Why it's wrong here
Snapshots are for backup, not for quick recovery from instance failure.
✗
Increase the provisioned IOPS of the EBS volume.
Why it's wrong here
This improves performance but does not reduce recovery time during failover.
✗
Move the database to Amazon S3 for faster access.
Why it's wrong here
S3 is object storage and not suitable for database workloads.
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 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 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.
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: Deploy a second EC2 instance in a different Availability Zone and configure SAP HANA system replication. — Option C is correct because using Multi-AZ deployment with synchronous replication ensures that a standby database is ready to take over immediately, reducing recovery time significantly. Option A is wrong because increasing EBS volume size does not reduce recovery time. Option B is wrong because Amazon S3 is not suitable for low-latency database storage. Option D is wrong because manual snapshots take time to restore and do not provide automatic failover.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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 is migrating an SAP HANA database to AWS and needs to ensure high availability with automatic failover. Which solution meets this requirement with the least administrative overhead?
medium
A.Configure SAP HANA System Replication across two EC2 instances in different Availability Zones and use a custom script for failover.
✓ B.Use AWS SAP HANA Multi-AZ deployment.
C.Deploy a single EC2 instance with an EBS volume and take regular snapshots.
D.Use an Application Load Balancer to distribute traffic to multiple HANA instances.
Why B: Option D is correct because AWS SAP HANA Multi-AZ is a managed service that automatically handles failover. Option A is wrong because manual scripts require administrative overhead. Option B is wrong because it does not provide automatic failover. Option C is wrong because it requires manual intervention.
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
Question Discussion
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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.
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