Sample Exam Questions for FlashArray Support Specialist Certification

Review the following 19 sample questions prior to taking an exam to gain a better understanding of the types of questions that will be presented on the exam.

These sample test questions are for informational purposes ONLY and are provided to give prospective candidates an idea about the format and type of questions that will appear on the actual examination. These items are not to be used to determine a candidate's readiness to test. It does not guarantee a pass or fail result.

Question 1: What command should a Support Specialist run to read the raw frequent diagnostics from FlashArray logs and cloud sources, outputting results in JSON format?
A. `fa dump bundle`
B. `fa dump fdlag`
C. `fa dump mw`

Question 2: What command should a Support Specialist run to check the current link speed of an iSCSI interface, ensuring that it is properly negotiated and devoid of issues?
A. `purehw list --all \| grep ETH`
B. `purenetwork eth list`
C. `ethool -S ethX`

Question 3: A FlashArray alert is received stating "Drive failure detected" with "Details" stating "Slow link speed". What is a possible cause for this error?
A. Failed cable to a DirectFlash shelf
B. A FlashModule that needs to be reseated
C. Bad pci_link status caused by a failed NVMe-oF PCIe card

Question 3: A FlashArray alert is received stating "Drive failure detected" with "Details" stating "Slow link speed".

What is a possible cause for this error?

A. Failed cable to a DirectFlash shelf

B. A FlashModule that needs to be reseated

C. Bad pci_link status caused by a failed NVMe-oF PCIe card

Question 4: What is the impact in Pure's Fusion architecture when the fleet coordinator is offline?
A. Certificate rotation will be delayed, but existing certificates will remain valid for a 45-day grace period.
B. All certificates immediately become invalid, causing an outage in array-to-array communication.
C. Certificates continue to rotate as usual without any impact on the arrays.

Question 5: Which command will show degraded data per drive in the CLI?
A. `puredb list drives`
B. `puredrive list --total`
C. `lsapt`

Question 6: A user in the Storage Admin group can perform which FlashArray operations?
A. All FlashArray operations
B. Storage only operations with the exception of Remote Assist
C. All FlashArray operations with the exception of Remote Assist

Question 7: What happens to client traffic when FA File Service Virtual Interfaces has a failed interface?
A. It automatically migrates to the standby interface on the primary controller.
B. It automatically migrates to the standby interface on the secondary controller.
C. It will failover to the newly promoted primary controller.

Question 8: Which command should a Support Specialist run to identify which host WWNs have logged into a Fibre Channel (FC) port on the array?
A. `pureport list --initiator`
B. `purehost list --connect`
C. `purevol list --connect`

Question 9: An SMB client can only access the FA File export share with the IP address. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
A. Issue with AD domain controller
B. Issue with OpenLDAP
C. Issue with DNS

Question 9: An SMB client can only access the FA File export share with the IP address.

What is the most likely cause of this issue?

A. Issue with AD domain controller

B. Issue with OpenLDAP

C. Issue with DNS

Question 10: The `core.log` file driver stall output indicates what kind of latency? driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us
A. SAN Latency
B. Service Latency
C. Queue Latency

Question 10: The core.log file driver stall output indicates what kind of latency?


driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:4us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238340us exec_done_to_dropoff:4us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us
driver stall for user IO write 32768b cmd_to_alloc:2us alloc_buf:0us alloc_done_to_exec:238583us exec_done_to_dropoff:1us

A. SAN Latency

B. Service Latency

C. Queue Latency

Question 11: What does the `alloc_done_to_exec` driver stage indicate?
A. Time taken for the FlashArray to execute a buffer
B. Time taken for the host to fill a buffer
C. Time taken for the host to receive a buffer

Question 12: What can cause system space?
A. Excessive boot drive and /var partition space usage
B. Excessive front-end/external space usage
C. Excessive back-end/internal space usage

Question 13: A customer noticed a large spike in system space after migrating VMs to a FlashArray. After a few hours, the system space disappeared. Using the sample output from `fa timeline space`, what was the most likely cause of the system space?
A. The FlashArray was unable to clean up the reclaimable space fast enough to keep up with the migration workload.
B. The FlashArray had NOT yet categorized the newly written data.
C. The FlashArray had NOT yet completed RAID and pyramid space allotment.

Question 13: A customer noticed a large spike in system space after migrating VMs to a FlashArray. After a few hours, the system space disappeared.

Using the sample output from fa timeline space, what was the most likely cause of the system space?

A. The FlashArray was unable to clean up the reclaimable space fast enough to keep up with the migration workload.

B. The FlashArray had NOT yet categorized the newly written data.

C. The FlashArray had NOT yet completed RAID and pyramid space allotment.

Question 14: A Support Specialist receives the alert "Unable to connect to remote array." Which command should the Support Specialist run to check the current connection status?
A. `purearray connection list`
B. `purearray show --connect`
C. `purearray replication --show`

Question 14: A Support Specialist receives the alert "Unable to connect to remote array."

Which command should the Support Specialist run to check the current connection status?

A. purearray connection list

B. purearray show --connect

C. purearray replication --show

Question 15: A customer states that they're unable to ping the ActiveCluster cloud mediator. What is the most likely cause of this issue?
A. Port 122 has been blocked on the customer's firewall.
B. The mediator will NOT respond to ICMP requests.
C. There is a disconnect in the network path to the mediator.

Question 15: A customer states that they're unable to ping the ActiveCluster cloud mediator.

What is the most likely cause of this issue?

A. Port 122 has been blocked on the customer's firewall.

B. The mediator will NOT respond to ICMP requests.

C. There is a disconnect in the network path to the mediator.

Question 16: Why does ActiveDR (Near-Zero RPO) NOT guarantee a specific RPO?
A. ActiveDR is a secondary process, and front-end I/O performance is prioritized over replication.
B. ActiveDR enforces a fixed RPO that changes dynamically based on workload.
C. ActiveDR is designed to always maintain a near-zero RPO regardless of workload conditions.

Question 17: Which command is used to define LACP Bonds for FA File VIF connectivity using ethernet ports 18 and 19 for LACP Bond 0?
A. `purenetwork eth create lacpbond --subinterfacelist ct0.eth18,ct0.eth19 lacp0`
B. `purenetwork ethport create lacpond --subinterfacelist ct0.eth18,ct0.eth19 lacp0`
C. `purenetwork ethernet create lacpbond --subinterfacelist ct0.eth18,ct0.eth19 lacp0`

Question 18: What is the correct backup behavior when using CloudSnap to back up data to a target location?
A. CloudSnap performs only full backups.
B. CloudSnap performs only incremental backups.
C. CloudSnap performs a full backup first, followed by incremental backups.

Question 19: What steps should a Support Specialist take to resolve a "Protection Group Disallowed" alert caused by repeated network issues in a FlashArray?
A. Delete the disallowed protection group and create a new one to resume replication.
B. Resolve the network issue, then re-allow the protection group using the Purity GUI or CLI on the source array.
C. Resolve the network issue, then re-allow the protection group using the Purity GUI or CLI on the target array.