C1000-172 IBM Cloud Professional Architect v6 Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

IBM Cloud offers two content delivery networks (CDNs): CDN and Cloud Internet Services (CIS). These two offerings are underpinned by the networks of Akamai and Cloudflare, respectively.

IBM Cloud CDN:IBM Cloud uses Akamai’s global network for its Content Delivery Network (CDN) service. Akamai is one of the largest and most trusted CDN providers globally, known for its expansive network that delivers content with low latency and high availability.

IBM Cloud Internet Services (CIS):This service is built on Cloudflare's global network and offers a suite of services, including a CDN, DDoS protection, web application firewall (WAF), and more. Cloudflare's network spans many data centers worldwide, optimizing traffic delivery and securing applications.

Comparison with Other Options:

Limelight and KeyCDN (A), CDN 77 and CloudFront (C), Cloudflare and Fastly (D):These are other CDN providers but do not represent the networks underpinning IBM Cloud's CDN offerings.

References:

IBM Cloud CDN Documentation

IBM Cloud Internet Services (CIS) Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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To achieve a high availability strategy with a target of four nines (99.99%) for an IBM Kubernetes Services cluster, you need to deploy multiple worker nodes across at least three availability zones within a single region. This configuration ensures that even if one or two zones experience failures, the cluster remains operational, thus meeting the 99.99% uptime objective.

High Availability in IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service:Deploying worker nodes across multiple availability zones provides redundancy and fault tolerance. By having at least three zones, the Kubernetes cluster can tolerate failures in up to two zones while still maintaining functionality.

Comparison of Options:

A (Single worker node in a single zone):Insufficient for high availability as any zone failure would result in downtime.

B (Multiple nodes in a single zone):Provides redundancy but still vulnerable to zone-wide outages, not meeting 99.99% uptime.

C (Multiple nodes in at least three zones across multiple regions):While this offers high availability, it exceeds the requirements stated for achieving 99.99% within a single region.

References:

IBM Kubernetes Service Documentation

IBM Cloud High Availability Best Practices

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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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 LinkandTransit Gatewayare 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 References:

IBM Cloud Direct Link

IBM Cloud Transit Gateway

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IBM Power System Virtual Servers offer centralized IT infrastructure management, which is beneficial for a global manufacturing company looking to consolidate its IT footprint. By moving workloads to IBM Power System Virtual Servers, the company can manage its global IT resources from a single platform, simplifying operations, reducing costs, and increasing operational efficiency.

Benefits of Centralized Management:Consolidating IT infrastructure under a single, centrally managed platform allows for more streamlined operations, consistent management practices, and a reduction in the complexity associated with managing multiple dispersed systems.

Why This Benefit Meets the Use Case:The company needs to consolidate its IT footprint, which requires reducing the number of disparate systems and consolidating management under a single pane of glass.

Comparison with Other Options:

A (Disaster Recovery):Relevant but not the primary benefit in this use case.

C (Development and Testing):Does not align with the need to consolidate IT infrastructure.

D (High-Performance Computing):Not the primary goal described in the use case.

References:

IBM Power Systems Virtual Servers Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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File Storage (Classic) on IBM Cloud allows users to adjust the performance as needed by choosing different tiers or adjusting the input/output operations per second (IOPS). This flexibility makes itsuitable for workloads with varying performance requirements, such as databases, analytics, or content management systems, where the storage performance can be adjusted to match the workload demand.

Performance Adjustability:Users can choose between various performance levels or make adjustments to IOPS, allowing them to balance cost and performance based on current needs.

Why File Storage (Classic)?This flexibility makes File Storage (Classic) suitable for dynamic workloads that require changes in performance over time, such as during peak usage periods.

Comparison with Other Options:

Protects against data in transit failures (B)is not a primary feature of File Storage.

Scalable during provisioning (C)is partially correct, but "adjusting performance" is more precise.

Asynchronous reads and writes (D)are general file system features, not unique to IBM Cloud File Storage.

References:

IBM Cloud File Storage Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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Instance Groupsare used to allow provisioning of a large number of virtual server instances at the same time when using IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC).

IBM Cloud VPC Instance Groups: Instance Groups provide a way to manage a group of identical virtual server instances within a VPC. They support auto-scaling, load balancing, and rolling updates, making it easier to manage a large number of instances.

Use Case for Large Deployments: When an organization needs to deploy multiple instances simultaneously, Instance Groups simplify the process by providing a template and scaling policies.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM documentation on Instance Groups for VPC describes how they are used for managing large-scale deployments.

Other options are incorrect:

A. Instance Modelsrefer to the types or configurations of instances, not to mass provisioning.

B. Instance Replication Policiesdo not exist in this context.

D. Instance Scaling Policiesmanage scaling but are not used for the initial provisioning of multiple instances.

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The IBM Gateway Appliance providesNetwork Address Translation (NAT)capability.

IBM Gateway Appliance: It offers advanced network capabilities, including Network Address Translation (NAT). This feature allows for the mapping of private IP addresses to a single public IP address or multiple public IP addresses, enabling private IP addresses within an organization's internal network to be hidden from the external world, thereby enhancing security.

The three main resiliency options for IBM Cloud Object Storage areCross Region, Regional, and Single Data Center.

Resiliency Options in IBM Cloud Object Storage:

Single Data Center: Stores data in one location, ideal for low-latency access and data residency requirements.

Regional (also known as Multizone): Stores data across multiple data centers within the same geographic region, providing higher availability and protection against data center failure.

Cross Region: Stores data across multiple geographic regions, offering the highest level of availability and disaster recovery capability.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

As per IBM's documentation on Cloud Object Storage, these three options represent the primary resiliency models offered by IBM for their object storage service.

Other options are incorrect:

A. Cross Zone, Multizone, and RegionalandC. Cross Region, Cross Zone, and Single Data Centerdo not align with the actual resiliency models.

B. Single Data Center, Multizone, and Regionalis partially correct but lacks the "Cross Region" option.

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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.

References 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 stateis too vague and not a recognized term in the context of IaC.

C. Declarative stateis not a defined term in the IaC context.

D. Start staterefers to the initial configuration, not the desired outcome.

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Client-managed encryption allows clients to have full control over the encryption keys used to protect their block storage volumes, file shares, and custom images on IBM Cloud. This option ensures that only the client has access to the keys and, therefore, to the data.

Benefits of Client-Managed Encryption:Clients retain control over key management, including generation, rotation, and deletion, ensuring compliance with security policies and regulatory requirements.

Comparison with Other Options:

A (Provider-managed encryption):Managed by IBM, not by the client.

C (IBM-managed encryption):Similar to provider-managed, where IBM controls the keys.

D (Custom encryption):Not a specific term used in IBM Cloud documentation for this feature.

References:

IBM Cloud Data Encryption Documentation

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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The best IBM Cloud Object Storage resiliency option for a use case where data must remain in-country and locally restricted isSingle Data Center.

Single Data Center: This option ensures that all data is stored within a single geographic location, which complies with regulations or requirements that mandate data residency within a specific country. By using a single data center, the data remains locally restricted.

Data Residency Requirements: When an application has strict regulatory or compliance requirements that specify data must not leave the country, the Single Data Center option ensures that data does not cross geographic boundaries.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM documentation on IBM Cloud Object Storage Resiliency Options states that the Single Data Center option is best suited for scenarios where data residency is a concern.

Other options are incorrect:

A. Cross Zone,C. Cross Region, andD. Multizoneinvolve data being stored across multiple locations or regions, which would not meet the requirement of keeping the data locally restricted.

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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.

References:

IBM Cloud Block Storage Documentation

Portworx on IBM Cloud

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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The feature of Watson Discovery most helpful in identifying the root cause of customer complaints regarding delayed deliveries isPattern and Trend Analysis.

Pattern and Trend Analysis in Watson Discovery: This feature helps to identify recurring themes, trends, or patterns within large datasets. For a data analyst investigating customer complaints, pattern and trend analysis can help reveal common factors or trends contributing to the delays, such as issues with specific delivery locations, times, or processes.

Use Case for Analyzing Customer Complaints: By analyzing patterns and trends in the text data from customer complaints, the analyst can pinpoint potential bottlenecks or root causes leading to delays in deliveries.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM's Watson Discovery documentation highlights its ability to perform pattern and trend analysis to extract meaningful insights from unstructured data.

Other options are incorrect:

A. AI-powered search engineis for retrieving relevant documents or information.

B. Natural language processingprocesses text but does not focus on identifying patterns or trends.

C. User behavior trackingis not relevant in this context.

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A Citrix NetScaler (now known as Citrix ADC) is designed to improve the availability of applications by providing advanced load balancing, traffic management, and redundancy features. It ensures that applications remain accessible even in the event of server failures or high traffic volumes.

Why Citrix NetScaler Improves Availability:It distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to prevent overload on a single server, thus maintaining application uptime. It also provides failover capabilities, ensuring that if one server fails, traffic is rerouted to other healthy servers.

Comparison with Other Options:

A (Predictability):While Citrix NetScaler can improve predictability, its main function is related to availability.

B (Scalability):Citrix NetScaler can aid in scalability, but this is not the primary benefit for achieving 99.99% uptime.

C (Reliability):While reliability is an aspect, the key feature directly supporting 99.99% uptime is availability.

References:

Citrix ADC Documentation

IBM Cloud Load Balancer Services

IBM Cloud Architect Exam Study Guide

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The likely reason IBM Log Analysis is missing the Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud instance logs is thatthe logging agents were not created and deployed to this OpenShift instance.

IBM Log Analysis with Sysdig: To collect logs from a Red Hat OpenShift cluster, specific logging agents must be deployed on the cluster. These agents are responsible for forwarding logs to the IBM Log Analysis service.

Missing Logs Due to Missing Agents: If the agents are not deployed, the service will not capture logs from the cluster, resulting in missing log data from that instance.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

IBM documentation on Setting up Log Analysis explains the requirement of deploying logging agents to the respective resources to ensure log collection.

Other options are incorrect:

A. The developer needs at least editor IAM roledoes not affect the log capture.

B. The administrator needs at least reader accessdoes not address the missing agents.

C. The instance running in a different regiondoes not prevent log capture if agents are configured correctly.

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For data with unpredictable usage patterns, the architect should select theSmart Tierstorage 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.

References 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. Standardis for frequently accessed data.

C. VaultandD. Cold Vaultare for infrequently accessed data, not suitable for unpredictable usage.

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Volume Replicationis a feature of IBM Cloud File Storage (Classic).

IBM Cloud File Storage (Classic): This service provides block-level storage that can be provisioned with different performance tiers. Volume replication allows for synchronous replication of data across different availability zones within a region, ensuring high availability and disaster recovery.

Advantages of Volume Replication: By replicating data, IBM Cloud File Storage (Classic) offers enhanced data durability and continuity in case of an outage or failure at a single storage site.

References from IBM Cloud Professional Architect Materials:

According to IBM's documentation on File Storage, volume replication is one of the key features for enabling high availability.

Other options are incorrect:

A. Adjustable Volumesis not a primary feature of the classic version.

C. Jumbo Framesrelates to networking, not storage.

D. Fixed IOPScontradicts the flexible performance tiers of IBM Cloud File Storage (Classic).

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In IBM Cloud, amonitoring agentproperly authenticates with the IBM Cloud Monitoring service by using aservice instance authorization. This approach allows secure interaction between the monitoring agent and the monitoring service by using identity and access management (IAM) policies and authorizations associated with a service instance.

Service instance authorizations grant specific permissions to services, enabling them to authenticate and interact with other services or resources securely. For IBM Cloud Monitoring, the agent uses the service instance authorization to send metrics to the monitoring service, ensuring that the communication is authenticated and authorized without relying on hard-coded credentials or API keys tied to individual users.

The service instance authorization method is recommended because it is aligned with best practices for securing services in cloud environments, offering a centralized and controlled way to manage permissions.

IBM Cloud Documentation References:

IBM Cloud Monitoring: Setting up and Configuring Agents

Service Authorization for IBM Cloud Services

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