EMC D-ISM-FN-23 Dell Information Storage and Management Foundations 2023 Exam Exam Practice Test

Unified storage systems allow for the management of both file and block data in a single system, leading to better storage utilization. By consolidating different types of data, storage resources can be more efficiently allocated, reducing the amount of stranded or unused capacity and optimizing overall storage utilization.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Storage Systems

Target-based deduplication is recommended when there are concerns about application server performance and long backup windows. In this approach, deduplication is performed on the target storage system, offloading the deduplication process from the application servers. This minimizes the impact on server performance and reduces the backup window. Additionally, target-based deduplication allows organizations to retain their existing backup applications without significant modifications.

References:

• Dell Information Storage and Management V5 course materials, section on deduplication
• Dell EMC documentation on target-based deduplication

Storage Class Memory (SCM) is a type of non-volatile memory that offers performance characteristics between DRAM and traditional NAND flash. It provides faster read and write speeds compared to flash storage, but it is slower than DRAM.

References: Dell EMC ISM V5 Module 2, "Storage Class Memory," describes the performance characteristics and use cases of SCM.

• TCP Handshake Process: In a TCP connection establishment, the handshake involves three steps: SYN, SYN-ACK, and ACK.
• Exhibit Context: The "X" in the exhibit most likely represents the second step in this process, where the server responds to the client's initial SYN packet with a SYN-ACK.
• Role of SYN-ACK: The SYN-ACK indicates that the server has received the SYN packet and is ready to establish a connection by acknowledging the SYN and sending its own SYN.

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on Networking and Data Transmission Protocols.

Seek time, Rotational latency, and Data transfer rate are the three factors that govern the overall performance of a hard disk drive (HDD). Seek time is the time required by the read/write head to move to the correct location on the disk, rotational latency is the time required by the disk platter to rotate to bring the desired sector under the read/write head, and data transfer rate is the speed at which data can be transferred between the disk and the buffer (or cache) memory [1]. Bandwidth, RAID level, and I/O operations per second are not factors that govern HDD performance.

Cache tiering automatically allocates a large capacity secondary cache using Solid State Drives (SSDs) and Storage Class Memory (SCM). This method optimizes storage performance by dynamically assigning frequently accessed data to faster storage tiers, such as SSDs and SCM, while less frequently accessed data remains on slower storage tiers.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Storage Systems

• Total Operational Hours (Monday to Friday): 24 hours/day * 5 days = 120 hours
• Failure Times:
• Total Failure Hours: 1 + 4 + 1 = 6 hours
• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF):MTBF=Total Operational HoursNumber of Failures=1203=40 hoursMTBF=Number of FailuresTotal Operational Hours​=3120​=40 hours

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on Availability and Performance Management.

A passive attack in IT security involves unauthorized monitoring and gaining access to data without altering it. This type of attack is often used for data gathering and eavesdropping, where the attacker gains access to sensitive information without modifying or disrupting the system’s operations.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Security in Storage

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a protocol that offers a cost-effective balance between I/O performance and storage capacity, making it ideal for midrange storage applications. SAS devices provide higher data transfer rates and improved scalability compared to SATA while being more affordable than NVMe solutions, which are typically used for high-performance environments.

References:

• Dell EMC Education Services (https://education.dell.com/content/emc/en-us/home/certification-overview/find-exam/ismv41.html)
• (https://home.pearsonvue.com/dell)

This is an example of an image-based data protection method. With image-based data protection, a proxy server regularly takes Point-in-Time (PIT) snapshots of the virtual machine (VM) that is being protected. These snapshots are then stored in a secure location, allowing the user to quickly restore access to the VM in the event of a hardware failure. This type of data protection is effective for preserving the state of the VM, as well as any data stored on it, making it a reliable and secure way to protect data.

The correct sequence of steps to perform a data recovery operation is as follows:

• Backup client requests backup server for datastore services.
• Backup server instructs storage node to load backup media in the backup device.
• Backup server scans backup catalog to identify the client and data to be restored.
• Data is read and sent to the backup client.This sequence ensures that the appropriate data is identified and restored efficiently.References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module on Data Backup and Recovery

The Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) is calculated by averaging the repair times of the failed component. For Port 4, the failures and repair durations are as follows:

• Monday: 8 PM to 11 PM (3 hours)
• Wednesday: 7 PM to 10 PM (3 hours)
• Thursday: 6 AM to 12 PM (6 hours)

Total downtime = 3 + 3 + 6 = 12 hours Number of failures = 3

MTTR = Total downtime / Number of failures = 12 hours / 3 = 4 hours

References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5 Course Materials, Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) Section.

RAID 1 mirrors data, meaning it duplicates the data on two disks. Therefore, to provide 250 GB of usable storage, 500 GB of total storage is required (250 GB for the primary data and 250 GB for the mirrored copy). At a cost of $2 per GB, the chargeback amount is calculated as follows:Chargeback amount=500 GB×$2/GB=$1000Chargeback amount=500GB×$2/GB=$1000

References:

• Dell EMC Education Services (https://education.dell.com/content/emc/en-us/home/certification-overview/find-exam/ismv41.html)
• (https://home.pearsonvue.com/dell)

Governance is a practice of creating and enforcing policies that guide an organization in how it should be managed and operated. This includes developing strategies, setting operational rules, and making decisions that direct how an organization should be run. It is important to note that governance is not limited to only IT-related matters, as it encompasses all aspects of the organization, from financial to personnel management.

• Total Operational Hours (Monday to Friday): 12 hours/day * 5 days = 60 hours
• Failure Times:
• Total Failure Hours (Monday to Friday): 2 + 5 + 3 + 3 = 13 hours
• Availability Calculation:Availability=(Total Operational Hours−Failure HoursTotal Operational Hours)×100Availability=(Total Operational HoursTotal Operational Hours−Failure Hours​)×100Availability=(60−1360)×100=70Availability=(6060−13​)×100=70

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on Availability and Performance Management.

RAID 6 is characterized by double parity, which means that it uses two parity blocks to protect against data loss. This double parity allows RAID 6 to tolerate the failure of two drives within the RAID array, making it more reliable than RAID 5, which only uses single parity.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 documentation.
• Dell Certification Overview

Data deduplication is a process that eliminates redundant copies of data, reducing the storage space needed. It works by identifying and storing only unique data blocks, replacing duplicate blocks with pointers to the original data. This significantly reduces the amount of storage required and optimizes storage efficiency.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Data Protection

A capacity planning report for storage infrastructure provides current and historical information about the utilization of storage, file systems, and ports. This information is crucial for understanding storage consumption patterns, predicting future storage needs, and ensuring that storage resources are efficiently allocated and utilized. It helps in making informed decisions about storage upgrades and expansions.

References:

• Dell Information Storage and Management V5 course materials, section on capacity planning
• Dell EMC documentation on storage capacity planning

Flow control in FOP (File-Oriented Protocol) is a network performance attribute that ensures that packets are delivered in the same order they were sent. This is achieved by assigning each packet a sequence number, and then having the receiver send an acknowledgment back to the sender that it has received the packet and is ready for the next one. This helps to ensure that packets are not lost, and that they arrive in the same order they were sent.

Dell EMC PowerScale is designed to handle both file and object storage. It provides a scalable and flexible storage solution that can manage unstructured data in various formats.

References: Dell EMC ISM V5 Module 6, "Storage Solutions," includes information on different Dell EMC products and their capabilities.

• Deduplication is a process used to eliminate duplicate copies of repeating data.
• The exhibit shows a reduction in the number of shapes, indicating that duplicate data has been removed.
• Replication, archiving, and migration do not specifically involve the elimination of duplicates but rather involve copying, storing, or moving data.

References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5 documents

• Object-Based Storage Device (OSD): OSDs manage data as objects, which contain the data itself, metadata, and a globally unique identifier.
• Address Space: In object storage, all objects exist at the same level in a flat address space, meaning there is no hierarchical structure like in traditional file systems.
• Namespace: Object storage systems use a single namespace to manage objects, making it easier to scale and manage large amounts of data.

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on Object-Based Storage Systems.

NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) uses an embedded PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) controller to connect hosts to M.2 storage devices. This direct connection allows for high-speed data transfer and low latency, making NVMe suitable for performance-intensive applications.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Storage Technologies

In a Network Attached Storage (NAS) environment, the Common Internet File System (CIFS) enables file sharing with Windows clients and uses the TCP/IP protocol. CIFS is an enhanced version of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, which allows multiple users to access and share files over a network. It is commonly used in Windows environments for network file sharing and supports various operations like file read/write, file locking, and more.References:= Dell Information Storage and Management V5 course materials

Solid State Drives (SSDs) use flash memory to provide non-volatile data storage. Flash memory is a type of non-volatile memory that can be electronically erased and reprogrammed. Unlike RAM, flash memory retains data even when the power is turned off, making it ideal for permanent storage in SSDs. The primary types of flash memory used in SSDs are NAND flash, which is cost-effective and has high storage density, and NOR flash, which offers faster read speeds but is more expensive.

References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5 course material -Dell Education

A virtual private network (VPN) is a security control mechanism that creates a secure and encrypted connection between two networks over a public network such as the internet1. A VPN can help an organization to achieve the desired security for data backup and replication between the data center and cloud by:

• Protecting data in transit from unauthorized access, interception, or modification2.
• Ensuring data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity by using encryption algorithms and authentication protocols2.
• Providing network access control by verifying the identity of users and devices before granting access to resources2.
• Enabling remote access to cloud resources from any location without compromising security3

Upon receiving a service provisioning or management request, orchestrated operations trigger the appropriate workflow. Orchestration involves automating the arrangement, coordination, and management of complex computer systems, middleware, and services. It ensures that the necessary resources are provisioned and managed efficiently in response to user requests.

References:

• Dell Information Storage and Management V5 course materials, section on service provisioning and management
• Dell EMC documentation on orchestration in data centers

Variable-length segment deduplication identifies duplicate data more efficiently than fixed-length segment deduplication because it can adapt to changes in the data. Even if there are minor differences between two documents, the variable-length approach can still recognize and eliminate duplicate segments. This method increases the probability of identifying duplicate data, improving storage efficiency and reducing the amount of data that needs to be stored.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5, Data Deduplication Techniques,Dell Certification Resource

Differential backups are more efficient than incremental backups because, instead of backing up only the changes made since the last backup, they back up all of the data that has changed since the last full backup. This means that, unlike incremental backups, the size of the differential backup is not limited and can expand to contain more data than an incremental backup. Additionally, differential backups are faster to restore since they only need to read the differential backup and last full backup, rather than all of the incremental backups.

Agent-based backup involves installing a software agent on the client system (in this case, a VM) that manages the backup process. The agent monitors the data on the client, processes it, and sends it to the backup device. This method provides granular control over the backup process and allows for more sophisticated features like incremental backups, compression, and encryption. Agent-based backups are commonly used in virtual environments because they provide detailed management and reporting capabilities for each VM, ensuring efficient and secure data protection.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 Course, Module 7: Data Protection Solutions.
• Dell EMC ISM V5 Student Guide, Page 170-171.

VM hardening involves changing the default settings of virtual machines (VMs) to improve security. This process includes disabling unnecessary services, applying patches, and configuring security policies to protect against vulnerabilities and attacks.

References: Dell EMC ISM V5 Module 10, "Security and Virtualization," discusses the importance of VM hardening and specific practices.

In a software-defined networking (SDN) architecture, the control layer is responsible for establishing communication between the infrastructure layer (data plane) and the interface layer (application plane). The control layer abstracts the underlying network infrastructure and provides a centralized management interface to define and enforce network policies, ensuring that the network can be managed and programmed more efficiently.References:= Dell ISMv5 Course Module 10: Networking in Cloud Computing.

The Cisco MDS-9132T switch model supports NVMe over Fibre Channel (FC) in a 32Gb/s SAN fabric. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a protocol designed for SSDs to exploit the performance potential of flash technology and provides faster data access compared to traditional SCSI protocols. The MDS-9132T is optimized for modern data centers requiring high-performance storage connectivity.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 course material, Module on Fibre Channel SAN.
• Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches data sheet.

Dell EMC Data Domain is a disk-based backup and recovery solution that incorporates inherent source-based deduplication technology. This deduplication reduces the amount of data that needs to be stored by eliminating duplicate copies of repeating data, thus improving storage efficiency and reducing costs. Data Domain systems are designed to provide reliable and high-performance backup and recovery services.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5, Backup and Recovery Solutions,Dell Certification Resource

To calculate the availability of Port 4, we need to determine the total operational time and the downtime.

Total operational hours (Mon-Fri): 12 hours/day * 5 days = 60 hours Total operational hours in the week: 60 hours

Downtime:

• Monday: 11 AM to 1 PM = 2 hours
• Wednesday: 5 PM to 10 PM = 5 hours
• Thursday: 7 AM to 10 AM = 3 hours

Total downtime = 2 + 5 + 3 = 10 hours

Availability = (Total operational hours - Downtime) / Total operational hours * 100 Availability = (60 - 10) / 60 * 100 = 50/60 * 100 = 83.33%

However, considering the alternative calculation of 86.7% based on a more precise operational window management:

Operational window per week = 60 hours Downtime within operational hours = 10 hours

Availability = ((60 - 10) / 60) * 100 = 83.33%

The correct more detailed and precise calculation according to a more refined operational context gives the same as before, ensuring no discrepancy in understanding.

References:= Dell ISMv5 Course Module 9: System Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability.

Archive is a type of data protection that is used to move primary data to lower cost storage and helps to enforce compliance requirements. It is a process of moving inactive data that is no longer needed for immediate use to a secondary storage medium. Archive uses data compression and deduplication techniques to reduce storage costs, and can also be used to help meet compliance requirements.

In a full mesh topology, every switch is connected to every other switch, providing multiple paths for redundancy and performance. This setup is ideal for meeting performance requirements and ensuring that there is always a path available even if one link fails, fulfilling the need for redundant ISLs.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 course material, Module on Fibre Channel SAN.

When deploying a security control mechanism to protect assets, it is crucial to ensure that unauthorized users have limited access. This minimizes the risk of attacks and data breaches by controlling who can access sensitive information and resources. Security controls should be designed to prevent unauthorized access while ensuring that authorized users have the necessary access to perform their duties.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 course material, Module on Security and Protection.

REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style that supports the development of scalable and lightweight web applications. It is based on a resource-oriented architecture and adheres to a set of constraints such as stateless communication and the use of standard HTTP methods. RESTful APIs are widely used in Software-Defined Storage (SDS) environments to interact with and manage storage resources efficiently.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5, Software-Defined Storage,Dell Certification Resource

Automating the operations management process in a data center environment is crucial because it ensures operational agility. Automation helps streamline operations, reduces human errors, and allows for quicker response times to operational issues. By automating routine tasks and processes, data centers can adapt to changes and demands more efficiently, leading to improved overall performance and agility in operations.References:= Dell ISMv5 Course Module 6: Data Center Management and Automation.

As previously mentioned, scale-out NAS architecture supports the dynamic expansion of the storage environment by incorporating additional nodes. Each node enhances the system's overall storage capacity and performance capabilities. This model ensures that storage can scale out efficiently to accommodate growing data volumes and changing business requirements, providing flexibility and resilience.

References:

• Dell EMC Education Services: Information Storage and Management (ISM) V5 course materials
• Dell Technologies scale-out NAS solutions documentation

The exhibit shows a process where data is being transferred between a control storage system and a remote storage system. This process represents data migration, which involves moving data from one storage system to another. This can be part of upgrading to new storage technology, balancing storage loads, or disaster recovery planning.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management (ISM) Version 5.0, Chapter on Data Protection Solutions

• Scale-out NAS: Scale-out NAS architecture allows the addition of nodes to the NAS cluster seamlessly. Each node contributes to the overall capacity and performance of the system.
• Data Striping: Data is striped across multiple nodes, which enhances performance and enables efficient data protection using mirroring or parity.
• Advantages: This method provides high availability, scalability, and performance improvements as the workload is distributed across multiple nodes.

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on NAS Solutions and Scale-Out NAS.

The exhibit shows the architecture of a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system that processes file I/O operations. Both scale-up and integrated NAS systems can process file write and read operations as described. Scale-up NAS systems add storage capacity by adding more storage to existing nodes, while integrated NAS systems combine the NAS head and storage into a single unit.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 course material, Module on Networked Storage - NAS.

In Continuous Data Protection (CDP), the amount of space allocated for the journal determines how long the system can retain recovery points. The journal stores changes to data, and a larger journal can hold more changes over a longer period, thus allowing for recovery to a point further back in time. Therefore, the length of time the recovery points can go back is directly influenced by the journal size.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5, Data Protection and Replication,Dell Certification Resource

According to 1, cloud service models are categories of services that cloud providers offer to users and businesses. The three cloud service models are:

• Software as a Service (SaaS): The provider delivers software applications over the internet that users can access via web browsers or mobile apps. Examples: Gmail, Salesforce, Netflix.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The provider offers computing resources such as servers, storage, networks and virtual machines that users can rent and manage via a web portal or an API. Examples: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Platform as a Service (PaaS): The provider offers a web-based environment where developers can build cloud applications using a database, operating system and programming language provided by the provider. Examples: Heroku, Google App Engine, AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

Based on these definitions12, the cloud service model that provides compute, network and storage resources through self-service portal is Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS)34. This is because IaaS allows users to rent and manage computing resources via a web portal or an API without having to maintain the underlying elements2.

A software-defined data center (SDDC) is an architecture that extends virtualization concepts such as abstraction, pooling, and automation to all of the data center's resources and services. In an SDDC, IT resource components like computing, networking, storage, and security are all virtualized, except for the commodity hardware used to create resource pools. This virtualized environment enables more efficient resource management and scalability.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5 documentation.
• Dell Certification Overview

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) approach to building modern infrastructure involves selecting and integrating various products and services from different vendors. This approach provides greater flexibility and customization options, allowing organizations to tailor their infrastructure to specific needs and preferences.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management V5, Module: Infrastructure Management

File-level virtualization is a technique used in data center environments to manage and optimize the use of NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems. By abstracting the file storage location from the clients, it allows for the seamless movement of files across different NAS devices without disrupting user access. This mobility improves the efficiency and flexibility of storage management, enables load balancing, and enhances data availability.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5, File-level Virtualization,Dell Certification Resource

Parity-based RAID protection uses fewer physical drives than mirroring to provide the same level of data protection. It does this by using error correction codes to detect and correct errors in the data. This allows for a much more efficient use of storage capacity, as it only requires the same amount of storage capacity as the actual data, rather than requiring twice the storage capacity as with mirroring. Additionally, parity RAID systems have the advantage of being able to recover from drive failures without having to wait for the data to be rewritten to the remaining drives, as is the case with mirroring.

• Capacity Requirement: 5 TB = 5000 GB
• Disk Capacity: 750 GB
• Number of Disks for Capacity:Capacity Disks=⌈5000750⌉=7 disksCapacity Disks=⌈7505000​⌉=7 disks
• Performance Requirement: 3000 IOPS
• Disk IOPS: 90 IOPS (at 70% utilization)
• Number of Disks for Performance:Performance Disks=⌈300090⌉=34 disksPerformance Disks=⌈903000​⌉=34 disks
• Final Number of Disks: The higher of the two values is needed, which is 34 disks.

References: Dell ISM V5 Course, Module on Performance and Capacity Planning.

End-to-end NVMe-oF (Non-Volatile Memory Express over Fabrics) is implemented to maximize the speed of SSD storage distributed across an FC (Fibre Channel) SAN (Storage Area Network). NVMe-oF leverages the high-speed capabilities of NVMe drives and extends them over network fabrics, providing significant performance improvements over traditional SCSI-based protocols. This enables faster data access and reduced latency, making it ideal for high-performance applications and environments where speed is critical.

References:

• Dell EMC Information Storage and Management (ISM) v5, Module on NVMe and Storage Area Networks, with a focus on performance benefits of NVMe-oF.

The control plane in the SDDC architecture is responsible for the orchestration and management of resources. It implements the programming logic and policies that dictate how resources are allocated and managed within the data center. By automating resource provisioning and managing policies, the control plane helps ensure that resources are used efficiently and thatthe infrastructure can adapt to changing workloads and requirements.References: Dell Information Storage and Management V5 Manual.

Organizations must store, protect, and manage their data in order to comply with the various laws and regulations governing the use and storage of data, such as GDPR and CCPA. By properly managing their data, organizations can ensure that they are compliant with these regulations and avoid potential penalties. Additionally, by storing, protecting, and managing their data, organizations can ensure that their data is secure and protected from malicious actors.

it is important for organizations to store, protect and manage their data because data is a valuable asset that can drive business growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. Data can also be subject to various risks such as loss, corruption, theft, unauthorized access, and compliance violations.

One of the reasons why it is important for organizations to store, protect and manage their data is to meet the requirements of legal and data governance regulations1. This means that organizations should comply with the laws and policies that govern howdata should be collected, stored, processed, shared, and disposed of. Data governance also ensures that data quality, security, privacy, and ethics are maintained throughout the data lifecycle.