IBM C1000-172 IBM Cloud Professional Architect v6 Exam Practice Test

Answer : B

For data with unpredictable usage patterns, the architect should select the Smart Tier storage class.

Smart Tier Storage Class: This is designed for workloads with changing or unpredictable access patterns. It automatically moves data between different cost-performance tiers based on access patterns, providing cost-efficiency and optimal performance without requiring manual intervention.

Unpredictable Usage Patterns: Smart Tier is particularly beneficial when the usage patterns of data are not consistent, as it dynamically adjusts the storage tier to ensure the most efficient use of resources.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM's documentation on IBM Cloud Object Storage Classes describes Smart Tier as the recommended choice for data with unpredictable access patterns.

Other options are incorrect:

A . Standard is for frequently accessed data.

C . Vault and D. Cold Vault are for infrequently accessed data, not suitable for unpredictable usage.

Answer : A

A key tenet of Modern Hybrid Cloud is that it focuses on the portability and automatic scaling of workloads.

Modern Hybrid Cloud: This concept revolves around the ability to seamlessly move and manage workloads across multiple cloud environments (public, private, and on-premises) with consistent security, management, and operational practices. Portability and automatic scaling are essential components that enable workloads to be dynamically allocated and scaled based on demand.

Portability and Scalability: By focusing on these aspects, a modern hybrid cloud provides flexibility and efficiency, ensuring that workloads can run optimally across different environments without being tied to a specific infrastructure.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM's materials on Hybrid Cloud emphasize the importance of workload portability and scalability as key factors in modern cloud architectures.

Other options are incorrect:

B . Focuses on lifting and shifting workloads quickly to the cloud is more of a migration strategy, not a core principle of a modern hybrid cloud.

C . Designed to mimic on-premises and D. Based on extending on-premises infrastructure do not encompass the broader goals of a hybrid cloud strategy.

Answer : A

IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Crypto Services is the correct service to use for encrypting IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service secrets and the etcd store with the organization's own root keys on FIPS 140-2 Level 4-certified hardware.

IBM Cloud Hyper Protect Crypto Services: This service provides a highly secure key management system and supports encryption operations using FIPS 140-2 Level 4-certified hardware. It ensures that the keys used to encrypt data never leave the secure boundary of the Hardware Security Module (HSM), which meets the highest level of security certification (Level 4).

Use Case Suitability: For organizations needing to meet stringent regulatory and compliance requirements (such as those demanding FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certification), Hyper Protect Crypto Services offers the necessary security controls to protect Kubernetes secrets and other sensitive data.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

The IBM documentation on Hyper Protect Crypto Services confirms that it uses FIPS 140-2 Level 4-certified hardware, making it the correct choice for this requirement.

Other options are incorrect:

B . IBM Cloud Secrets Manager and C. IBM Cloud Key Protect do not utilize FIPS 140-2 Level 4-certified hardware.

D . IBM Cloud Managed Encryption Services is not a specific service related to the required encryption hardware.

Answer : A, C

When an organization has deployed Red Hat OpenShift on an IBM Cloud cluster on a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) infrastructure and needs to connect to resources hosted on the IBM Cloud Classic infrastructure, IBM Cloud Direct Link and Transit Gateway are the two most suitable connectivity options.

IBM Cloud Direct Link:

IBM Cloud Direct Link provides dedicated, high-speed, and secure connectivity between IBM Cloud infrastructure components, including between VPCs and IBM Cloud Classic infrastructure. By establishing a Direct Link connection, traffic can securely flow between the Red Hat OpenShift workloads in the VPC and the applications or services running on the Classic infrastructure without traversing the public internet.

Transit Gateway:

IBM Cloud Transit Gateway allows organizations to establish a hub-and-spoke model of connectivity, facilitating communication between different networks, such as VPCs and Classic infrastructure, across IBM Cloud. With Transit Gateway, you can interconnect multiple VPCs and Classic networks, allowing seamless communication across the cloud environments. This option is ideal for managing traffic between isolated network segments while maintaining control over traffic routing and security policies.

These two options are typically used in multi-cloud or hybrid cloud architectures to ensure smooth, secure, and scalable communication between cloud environments (VPC and Classic infrastructure) in IBM Cloud.

IBM Cloud Documentation Reference:

IBM Cloud Direct Link

IBM Cloud Transit Gateway

Answer : C, E

When deploying an application to an IBM Cloud OpenShift cluster that requires persistent storage across zones within a region, Portworx and Block Storage are viable options.

Portworx: This is a cloud-native storage solution designed for containerized environments like Kubernetes and OpenShift. Portworx provides highly available, scalable, and persistent storage that spans multiple zones within a region, ensuring data redundancy and availability.

Block Storage: IBM Cloud Block Storage provides persistent, high-performance storage that can be attached to virtual servers or containers. It is designed to offer cross-zone availability when configured with the necessary replication and redundancy settings.

Comparison with Other Options:

A (Kubernetes local volume storage): Not suitable for spanning multiple zones as it is tied to specific nodes.

B (Object Storage): Designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data; it is not typically used for persistent storage in Kubernetes.

D (NetApp on Tap): Primarily used for network-attached storage and might not be optimized for persistent storage across multiple zones in OpenShift.

IBM Cloud Block Storage Documentation

Portworx on IBM Cloud

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

Answer : B

Databases for Db2 is an IBM Cloud database service that supports both relational and non-relational data querying.

IBM Cloud Databases for Db2: Db2 on IBM Cloud is a managed database service that supports both relational and non-relational models. It provides JSON and SQL querying capabilities, allowing users to store and retrieve data in a flexible manner. This makes it capable of handling structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data, thus supporting both relational and non-relational data formats.

Support for Multiple Data Types: Db2's multi-model database capabilities enable the execution of SQL queries on relational data and the storage/retrieval of JSON documents, effectively allowing it to function in both relational and non-relational scenarios.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

According to IBM's documentation on IBM Cloud Databases for Db2, it supports a broad range of workloads and use cases, including transactional (relational) and operational (non-relational) workloads, making it suitable for both SQL and NoSQL data models.

The other options are incorrect because:

A . Databases for Redis is a key-value store optimized for in-memory data.

C . Databases for PostgreSQL is strictly a relational database.

D . Databases for etcd is a key-value store primarily used for configuration management.

Answer : B

In Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using IBM Cloud Schematics, a declarative approach defines the 'end state' or 'desired state' of the infrastructure.

Declarative Approach: In the declarative model, you specify the final desired state of the infrastructure you want, and the IaC tool (IBM Cloud Schematics in this case) takes the responsibility of determining the sequence of steps necessary to achieve that state. This is opposed to an imperative approach, where you explicitly define each step required to reach the desired outcome.

IBM Cloud Schematics: IBM Cloud Schematics is a tool that allows users to define their infrastructure and services as code using Terraform. In a declarative approach, the user creates Terraform configuration files that describe the desired state of all resources, like VMs, networks, databases, etc. Schematics then reconciles the current state with the desired state by applying the appropriate changes.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

According to IBM documentation on IBM Cloud Schematics, it focuses on defining the desired state (end state) of the resources. This is a fundamental concept of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and the declarative approach in cloud computing.

The other options do not accurately describe the declarative approach:

A . Future state is too vague and not a recognized term in the context of IaC.

C . Declarative state is not a defined term in the IaC context.

D . Start state refers to the initial configuration, not the desired outcome.