Pure Certified FlashArray Storage
Professional – Advanced Practice Exam |
2025/2026 | Questions and answers | Instant
Download!!
1. A customer reports intermittent high latency on a Pure FlashArray during
peak write workloads. Pure1 shows no hardware faults. What is the MOST likely
root cause?
A. NVRAM battery degradation
B. Write queue saturation due to host-side burst traffic (Correct Answer)
C. Deduplication failure
D. RAID rebuild activity
Rationale:
FlashArray uses NVRAM to absorb writes, but extreme burst workloads from hosts can
temporarily saturate write queues, causing latency spikes without hardware faults.
2. In a dual-controller FlashArray architecture, if one controller fails, what
ensures uninterrupted I/O?
A. Snapshot replication
B. Asynchronous replication
C. Active-active controller design with mirrored NVRAM (Correct Answer)
D. Host-side multipathing only
Rationale:
FlashArray uses active-active controllers with mirrored NVRAM, allowing seamless failover
without data loss.
,3. A VMware environment using VMFS experiences path thrashing. Which
configuration setting should be verified FIRST?
A. Thin provisioning ratio
B. Snapshot schedule
C. Multipathing policy (Correct Answer)
D. RAID group allocation
Rationale:
Incorrect multipathing (e.g., Round Robin misconfiguration) can cause path instability.
4. A customer wants near-zero RPO between two data centers 50 km apart.
Which solution is BEST?
A. Snapshot-only backups
B. Async replication
C. ActiveCluster synchronous replication (Correct Answer)
D. Manual replication
Rationale:
ActiveCluster provides synchronous replication with zero RPO over metro distances.
5. Which feature allows safe testing of production data without impacting live
workloads?
A. Volume move
B. SafeMode
,C. Instant snapshots with writable clones (Correct Answer)
D. RAID rebuild
Rationale:
FlashArray snapshots are metadata-based and space-efficient, enabling instant clone testing.
6. A database workload requires consistent performance during garbage
collection cycles. FlashArray achieves this primarily through:
A. Host caching
B. Disk spinning optimization
C. Always-on inline deduplication and compression (Correct Answer)
D. Manual tiering
Rationale:
FlashArray’s always-on data reduction avoids post-process overhead that could cause
performance spikes.
7. A storage admin notices data reduction ratio dropped significantly after
onboarding encrypted workloads. Why?
A. Controller firmware bug
B. RAID configuration issue
C. Encrypted data reduces deduplication effectiveness (Correct Answer)
D. NVRAM cache disabled
Rationale:
Encrypted data appears random, limiting deduplication and compression benefits.
, 8. During a controller upgrade, what ensures non-disruptive operations?
A. Host shutdown
B. RAID rebuild
C. Rolling controller upgrade with transparent failover (Correct Answer)
D. Manual LUN migration
Rationale:
FlashArray supports non-disruptive controller upgrades via rolling processes.
9. What is the PRIMARY function of SafeMode snapshots?
A. Increase performance
B. Improve compression
C. Protect against ransomware and accidental deletion (Correct Answer)
D. Enhance replication speed
Rationale:
SafeMode prevents snapshot deletion even by admins, protecting against ransomware.
10. A customer running Oracle RAC wants consistent snapshots across multiple
volumes. What should be used?
A. Per-volume snapshot
B. Protection group snapshot (Correct Answer)
C. Host OS backup
D. RAID sync
Rationale:
Protection groups allow crash-consistent snapshots across multiple volumes.
Professional – Advanced Practice Exam |
2025/2026 | Questions and answers | Instant
Download!!
1. A customer reports intermittent high latency on a Pure FlashArray during
peak write workloads. Pure1 shows no hardware faults. What is the MOST likely
root cause?
A. NVRAM battery degradation
B. Write queue saturation due to host-side burst traffic (Correct Answer)
C. Deduplication failure
D. RAID rebuild activity
Rationale:
FlashArray uses NVRAM to absorb writes, but extreme burst workloads from hosts can
temporarily saturate write queues, causing latency spikes without hardware faults.
2. In a dual-controller FlashArray architecture, if one controller fails, what
ensures uninterrupted I/O?
A. Snapshot replication
B. Asynchronous replication
C. Active-active controller design with mirrored NVRAM (Correct Answer)
D. Host-side multipathing only
Rationale:
FlashArray uses active-active controllers with mirrored NVRAM, allowing seamless failover
without data loss.
,3. A VMware environment using VMFS experiences path thrashing. Which
configuration setting should be verified FIRST?
A. Thin provisioning ratio
B. Snapshot schedule
C. Multipathing policy (Correct Answer)
D. RAID group allocation
Rationale:
Incorrect multipathing (e.g., Round Robin misconfiguration) can cause path instability.
4. A customer wants near-zero RPO between two data centers 50 km apart.
Which solution is BEST?
A. Snapshot-only backups
B. Async replication
C. ActiveCluster synchronous replication (Correct Answer)
D. Manual replication
Rationale:
ActiveCluster provides synchronous replication with zero RPO over metro distances.
5. Which feature allows safe testing of production data without impacting live
workloads?
A. Volume move
B. SafeMode
,C. Instant snapshots with writable clones (Correct Answer)
D. RAID rebuild
Rationale:
FlashArray snapshots are metadata-based and space-efficient, enabling instant clone testing.
6. A database workload requires consistent performance during garbage
collection cycles. FlashArray achieves this primarily through:
A. Host caching
B. Disk spinning optimization
C. Always-on inline deduplication and compression (Correct Answer)
D. Manual tiering
Rationale:
FlashArray’s always-on data reduction avoids post-process overhead that could cause
performance spikes.
7. A storage admin notices data reduction ratio dropped significantly after
onboarding encrypted workloads. Why?
A. Controller firmware bug
B. RAID configuration issue
C. Encrypted data reduces deduplication effectiveness (Correct Answer)
D. NVRAM cache disabled
Rationale:
Encrypted data appears random, limiting deduplication and compression benefits.
, 8. During a controller upgrade, what ensures non-disruptive operations?
A. Host shutdown
B. RAID rebuild
C. Rolling controller upgrade with transparent failover (Correct Answer)
D. Manual LUN migration
Rationale:
FlashArray supports non-disruptive controller upgrades via rolling processes.
9. What is the PRIMARY function of SafeMode snapshots?
A. Increase performance
B. Improve compression
C. Protect against ransomware and accidental deletion (Correct Answer)
D. Enhance replication speed
Rationale:
SafeMode prevents snapshot deletion even by admins, protecting against ransomware.
10. A customer running Oracle RAC wants consistent snapshots across multiple
volumes. What should be used?
A. Per-volume snapshot
B. Protection group snapshot (Correct Answer)
C. Host OS backup
D. RAID sync
Rationale:
Protection groups allow crash-consistent snapshots across multiple volumes.
