Free Pure Storage FlashArray-Implementation-Specialist Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

Pure Storage has introducedSelf-Service Upgrades (SSU)via thePure1 Manageportal to provide customers with greater flexibility and control over their maintenance windows.

If a client cannot wait for a scheduled assisted upgrade with a Support Engineer, the validated and supported path is togo through the Self-Service upgrade portal on Pure1 Manage.

This portal performs the same pre-flight health checks (Remote Assist, array health, pathing) that a Support Engineer would perform manually.

Once the checks pass, the customer can schedule and initiate the Purity upgrade directly from the cloud dashboard.

The process is fully automated and monitored by Pure1. This eliminates the wait time for human resource availability while maintaining the safety guardrails of a supported upgrade. Manual USB installs (Option A) or direct CLI downloads (Option B) are generally restricted or not recommended for standard customer workflows without specific support supervision.

To successfully initialize the FlashArray, the Implementation Engineer shouldremove the port numberfrom the SMTP relay host field.

During the initial setup (via the Purity GUI wizard or CLI), the system requests a "Relay Host" for email alerts. The input field typically expects a validFully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)or IP address (e.g., outlook.office365.com or smtp.example.com).

Syntax Error:Appending the port number (e.g., :587) to the hostname often causes a DNS resolution failure or a syntax error because the array's initialization parser treats the entire string (including the colon and numbers) as the hostname.

Port Configuration:While modern Purity versions support custom SMTP ports (like 587 for TLS), this is often configuredafterthe initial network setup or requires a specific command syntax that separates the host and port. For the purpose of passing the initial "New Array" setup wizard, providing the clean hostname is the standard correction. The engineer can then refine the SMTP settings (adding authentication and specific ports) in the Purity GUI once the array is initialized and accessible.

TheFlashArray//XR4maintains the standard port assignment convention established in previous generations for its onboard Ethernet interfaces.

ETH2 and ETH3are the default ports designated forReplicationtraffic.

ETH0 and ETH1are reserved for Management.

ETH2 and ETH3are configured by Purity defaults to handle the heavy bandwidth of asynchronous or synchronous replication.

While these assignments can be modified in software, the physical ports labeled eth2 and eth3 on the rear of the chassis are the intended primary interfaces for this function. Implementation Engineers should cable these ports to the replication network switches during the initial install.

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A "4X Module" kit is specifically designedto widen an existing write group(RAID set).

Write Group Geometry:In standard FlashArray//X configurations, DirectFlash Modules (DFMs) operate in "Write Groups" (typically 10 modules wide for a standard data pack). However, to offer more flexible entry points or capacity expansion options, Pure Storage allows configurations that start with smaller write groups (e.g., 6 modules).

Widening:When a customer wants to expand capacity or performance on these smaller configurations without adding a full new 10-pack, they can purchase a widening kit (in this case, 4 modules).

Process:The Implementation Engineer installs these 4 modules into the empty slots. The Purity operating system then logically integrates these new drives into the existing narrow write group, "widening" it to the standard width (e.g., 6 + 4 = 10). This operation redistributes parity and data across the full set of 10 drives, improving performance and efficiency.

When performing a Hardware Non-Disruptive Upgrade (HWNDU) or preparing for a Purity software upgrade, the Implementation Engineer must log in with a user account that has full administrative privileges to execute upgrade commands, run health checks, and manage the array state.

Thepureuseraccount is the standard administrative superuser for the FlashArray. It is used for all day-to-day administration and maintenance tasks, including initiating upgrades via the CLI (pureinstall or pureupdate commands) and verifying system health (purearray health, pureadm list). The puresetup account is strictly for initial array initialization (setting IPs and array name) and is disabled or restricted once the array is up and running. pureinstall is a command, not a user account. Therefore, pureuser is the correct authenticated session required to manage the upgrade process.

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In the Purity//FA Graphical User Interface (GUI), the management of FA File resources is integrated into the core "Storage" navigation pane. To manage specific file system directories—such as creating new exports, setting quotas, or managing directory-level policies—the Implementation Engineer must navigate toStorage > File Systems.

Within this view, the engineer can see the list of provisioned file systems. By clicking into a specific file system, they can access the "Directories" sub-tab or detailed view where folders (directories) within that file system can be explicitly managed.

It is important not to confuse this with "Directory Services," which is located under theSettingsmenu. "Directory Services" (Option B) refers to the configuration of Active Directory (AD) or LDAP connections for user authentication and identity mapping, not the management of the actual file storage structure. Similarly, the Analytics tab (Option C) provides performance metrics but does not offer configuration capabilities for creating or modifying directories.

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The puresupport command suite is used to manage and verify the connectivity between the FlashArray and Pure Storage Support (Pure1). Specifically, to test theRemote Assistfunctionality—which allows Pure Support to securely log in to the array for troubleshooting—the correct command is puresupport test.

While phonehome is a related concept (sending logs out), Remote Assist is a distinct inbound tunnel feature. purearray test pinghome is often confused with phonehome but is an older or specific test for the log sender. The puresupport test command runs a comprehensive check of the support channel connectivity, including the ability to establish the Remote Assist tunnel. If this test passes, the Implementation Engineer can be confident that Support can access the array if needed during or after the deployment.

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Complex upgrades that involve both removing old capacity (evacuation) and replacing controllers (hardware NDU) require a "checkpoint" with Pure Storage Support to ensure data safety.

The correct procedure dictates contacting supportafter removing the fully evacuated drives but before proceeding with the hardware NDU.

Why?Once the old drives are physically removed, the array's configuration state has changed. Support needs to verify that the evacuation was 100% successful, that no stale objects or pointers to the removed drives remain in the database, and that the system is fully healthy and redundant.

Proceeding directly into a controller reboot (NDU) without this verification could lead to issues if the array still "thinks" it needs the removed drives, potentially causing a boot failure or data unavailability during the controller failover.

To safely stop the Purity operating environment on a specific controller during a physical controller upgrade (such as upgrading from FlashArray//X to //XL or performing a chassis swap), the correct command ispureadm stop.

This command is a system administration utility located in the Linux shell of the controller (accessible via the puresh prompt when logged into the specific controller's physical IP address). It is designed to stop the local Purity services on the node where the command is executed.

Procedure:In a non-disruptive controller upgrade, the engineer manually fails over primary services to the peer controller. Then, they log into the controller designated for removal (e.g., CT0) and run pureadm stop. This ensures that all Purity processes, I/O handling, and cache operations are cleanly terminated and flushed before the hardware is physically powered down or removed.

Syntax:The pureadm tool generally operates on the local instance. Options B and C utilize invalid flags (--secondary or --controller) for this specific command context. The engineer must be physically logged into the target controller to execute the stop command for that node.

After executing the puredb run giveback --safe command during a manual controller upgrade or specific non-disruptive upgrade (NDU) procedure, the Implementation Engineer must wait for10 minutesbefore proceeding to the next step (typically upgrading the peer controller).

The giveback command instructs the recently upgraded controller (e.g., CT0) to resume its primary role and take back ownership of its assigned storage resources and I/O handling from the peer controller. This process triggers a failover event for the host multipathing software.

Path Stabilization:The 10-minute wait time is a critical safety buffer mandated to ensure that all host-side multipathing drivers (MPIO) have successfully recognized the restored paths to the upgraded controller and have stabilized.

Risk Mitigation:Proceeding too quickly—before the hosts have fully settled and paths are marked as "Active/Optimized"—could lead to an "all paths down" (APD) scenario when the second controller is taken offline for its upgrade. This wait time verifies that the upgraded node is fully functional and carrying load, adhering to the strict "availability first" philosophy of FlashArray upgrades.