IBM Cloud Professional Architect v6 C1000-172 Exam Practice Test

Answer : C

The first step in troubleshooting an IBM Cloud access issue is to ensure that the user has the appropriate permissions to access the service or service instance through Identity and Access Management (IAM). IBM Cloud uses IAM to manage user access to resources and services, and improper or insufficient permissions are a common cause of access issues.

Checking IAM Permissions: Users must be granted the correct roles and access policies within IAM to interact with specific IBM Cloud resources. This involves verifying that the user has the necessary level of access (such as Viewer, Editor, or Administrator roles) for the service or resource in question.

Why IAM Access Matters: Without proper IAM access, users will be unable to view, modify, or delete resources, and access issues may manifest as permission errors, inability to see resources, or inability to interact with the service.

Comparison with Other Options:

A (Verify the ACLs): While ACLs are important, IAM access is the primary consideration in IBM Cloud.

B (Operator role): The Operator role may not necessarily grant sufficient access for all use cases.

D (Open a support case): This should be a subsequent step if IAM permissions are correctly configured.

IBM Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

Answer : D

Having multiple sites within the same region in IBM Cloud provides better protection against natural disasters.

Multiple Sites for Resiliency: In cloud architecture, resiliency is enhanced by distributing workloads and data across multiple sites or availability zones within the same region. If a natural disaster affects one site, the other sites can continue operations without significant downtime or data loss.

IBM Cloud Regions and Availability Zones: IBM Cloud has multiple availability zones within the same region, providing redundancy and failover options to protect against regional disruptions, such as natural disasters.

Reference from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM documentation on IBM Cloud Regions and Availability Zones mentions the design for high availability and disaster recovery by using multiple sites or availability zones within a region.

Other options are incorrect:

A . Higher level of data encryption is unrelated to multiple sites.

B . Improved network connectivity between sites is a benefit, but not the primary advantage for resiliency against natural disasters.

C . Enhanced scalability and performance is more relevant to resource allocation and management.

Answer : A

Bare Metal Servers on IBM Cloud provide the required physical isolation, regulatory benefits, and control over the software stack, making them ideal for moving Windows applications quickly without changing the architecture. Bare Metal Servers offer dedicated hardware resources, full control over the server environment, and the ability to configure and manage the software stack, meeting the company's needs for physical isolation and performance.

Why Bare Metal Servers? They provide the highest level of performance, security, and customization, including control over the operating system and applications, which is essential for regulatory compliance and quality of service.

Physical Isolation: Bare Metal Servers are single-tenant servers, meaning they are not shared with other customers, providing physical isolation required for specific regulatory needs.

Comparison with Other Options:

z16 (B) and Power (C) are specialized platforms for different workloads, not necessarily suited for general-purpose Windows applications.

Virtual Servers (D): Provide virtualization but do not offer the same level of control and physical isolation as Bare Metal Servers.

IBM Cloud Bare Metal Servers

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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 : 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

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 : B

Traffic Steering is a feature in IBM Cloud that optimizes the work of load balancers by directing traffic to the most appropriate resources based on predefined criteria, such as geographic location, resource availability, or other custom rules. This feature is crucial for optimizing application performance, reducing latency, and ensuring high availability across different regions and data centers.

IBM Cloud Load Balancer Overview: The IBM Cloud Load Balancer offers several advanced capabilities, including Traffic Steering, which enables intelligent routing of client requests. Traffic Steering can be configured to direct traffic to different backend servers or pools based on various policies like weighted round-robin, geographic proximity, or failover conditions. This optimizes the distribution of workloads and enhances the reliability and responsiveness of applications deployed on the IBM Cloud.

Importance of Traffic Steering: Traffic Steering is particularly beneficial in scenarios involving multi-region deployments. It ensures that user requests are served by the closest or most responsive data center, thereby minimizing response times and improving the end-user experience. It also enables flexible routing based on business logic or dynamic conditions, such as sudden surges in traffic or failures in specific regions.

Global Load Balancer Role: While the Global Load Balancer (Option D) is used for distributing traffic across multiple regions, Traffic Steering is a specific feature within the load balancing suite that controls how traffic is managed. Traffic Steering complements the Global Load Balancer by providing fine-grained control over traffic distribution strategies, enabling more efficient utilization of resources.

IBM Cloud Load Balancer Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

IBM Cloud Traffic Steering