- A
Maintain a standby Oracle database in another Availability Zone using Oracle Data Guard
Why wrong: A standby database requires a second EC2 instance and licensing, which is not cost-effective compared to snapshots.
- B
Use Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) to back up to Amazon S3 every 15 minutes
Why wrong: RMAN backups to S3 can be slower to recover from, potentially exceeding the 2-hour RTO.
- C
Take EBS snapshots of the database volumes every 15 minutes and store them in Amazon S3
EBS snapshots are incremental and cost-effective; automation can achieve 15-minute RPO.
- D
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication to a separate EC2 instance
Why wrong: DMS incurs additional costs for the replication instance and target database, and is not the most cost-effective.
Quick Answer
The answer is to take EBS snapshots of the database volumes every 15 minutes and store them in Amazon S3. This is the most cost-effective solution because EBS snapshots are incremental, meaning only changed blocks are saved after the initial full snapshot, which minimizes storage costs while meeting the 15-minute RPO. Restoring from an EBS snapshot to a new volume typically completes within minutes, easily satisfying the 2-hour RTO, and there are no ongoing compute costs for a standby instance or replication server. On the AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty PAS-C01 exam, this question tests your understanding of balancing cost with recovery objectives for SAP Oracle databases; a common trap is choosing a solution with a standby database or continuous replication, which incurs unnecessary compute and licensing costs. Remember the memory tip: for cost-effective, incremental backups with tight RPO, think “snapshots, not servers.”
PAS-C01 Design of SAP Workloads on AWS Practice Question
This PAS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of design of sap workloads on aws. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 SAP Business Suite on AWS with an Oracle database. The database is stored on Amazon EBS volumes. The architect wants to implement a backup strategy that meets a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and a recovery time objective (RTO) of 2 hours. Which solution is the most cost-effective?
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
Take EBS snapshots of the database volumes every 15 minutes and store them in Amazon S3
Option C is the most cost-effective because EBS snapshots are incremental, storing only changed blocks, and can be automated via Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager to meet a 15-minute RPO. Restoring from an EBS snapshot to a new volume typically completes within minutes, easily satisfying the 2-hour RTO, and there are no ongoing compute costs for a standby instance or replication server.
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.
- ✗
Maintain a standby Oracle database in another Availability Zone using Oracle Data Guard
Why it's wrong here
A standby database requires a second EC2 instance and licensing, which is not cost-effective compared to snapshots.
- ✗
Use Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) to back up to Amazon S3 every 15 minutes
Why it's wrong here
RMAN backups to S3 can be slower to recover from, potentially exceeding the 2-hour RTO.
- ✓
Take EBS snapshots of the database volumes every 15 minutes and store them in Amazon S3
Why this is correct
EBS snapshots are incremental and cost-effective; automation can achieve 15-minute RPO.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) with ongoing replication to a separate EC2 instance
Why it's wrong here
DMS incurs additional costs for the replication instance and target database, and is not the most cost-effective.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume a standby database (Data Guard) or continuous replication (DMS) is required for low RPO/RTO, overlooking that EBS snapshots taken every 15 minutes can achieve the same RPO at a fraction of the cost without ongoing compute overhead.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EBS snapshots are crash-consistent and leverage the block-level incremental mechanism where only modified blocks since the last snapshot are saved, making frequent snapshots (e.g., every 15 minutes) storage-efficient. Restoring from a snapshot creates a new EBS volume that can be attached to an EC2 instance, and the initial volume access may show slightly higher latency until the full volume is lazily loaded from Amazon S3, but this still meets a 2-hour RTO for most SAP workloads. In practice, combining EBS snapshots with automated lifecycle policies and cross-region copy can provide additional disaster recovery without the cost of a hot standby.
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 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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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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: Take EBS snapshots of the database volumes every 15 minutes and store them in Amazon S3 — Option C is the most cost-effective because EBS snapshots are incremental, storing only changed blocks, and can be automated via Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager to meet a 15-minute RPO. Restoring from an EBS snapshot to a new volume typically completes within minutes, easily satisfying the 2-hour RTO, and there are no ongoing compute costs for a standby instance or replication server.
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.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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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