Key details for this exam, checked against the published exam outline
Each question shows the correct answer and an explanation of why it is right
Which drive type can be used in a FAST Cache pool configuration for Dell Unity XT solutions?
A company has a Dell Unity XT 880 at its Boston site providing file storage for a business production application. The company has a second remote site 8 km (5 mi) away in Cambridge. A third site is in New York (342 km (213 mi) from the Boston site). How can the same production data be protected against system outage with a zero RPO and a maximum of 15 minutes RPO data recovery?
Dell Unity XT offers both synchronous and asynchronous replication to protect data and ensure business continuity.
Synchronous replication is used for zero RPO, ensuring no data loss, but it is typically limited to shorter distances due to latency concerns.
Asynchronous replication is suitable for longer distances and provides near real-time data protection with a minimal RPO.
Distance Considerations:
The distance between Boston and Cambridge (8 km) is suitable for synchronous replication, providing zero RPO.
The distance between Boston and New York (342 km) is better suited for asynchronous replication due to latency, ensuring data recovery with a minimal RPO, such as 15 minutes.
Optimal Replication Strategy:
Synchronous replication from Boston to Cambridge ensures zero RPO for critical data protection.
Asynchronous replication from Boston to New York provides additional data protection with a 15-minute RPO, suitable for longer-distance disaster recovery.
Dell Midrange Storage Reference:
Dell Unity XT documentation and best practices provide detailed guidelines on configuring synchronous and asynchronous replication.
Community forums and support resources from Dell Technologies offer insights into real-world implementation strategies.
A customer must provision file systems on a Dell Unity XT 480F for a test environment. A dynamic pool will be configured with RAID 5 (4+1) protection to match the production pool. The used tier contains only SAS Flash 3 drives. What is the minimum drive count necessary to create this pool?
Dynamic Pool Configuration with RAID 5:
RAID 5 (4+1) protection involves 4 data drives and 1 parity drive.
Minimum Drive Count:
For creating a dynamic pool with RAID 5 (4+1), the configuration must include at least 2 RAID 5 (4+1) groups to ensure redundancy and performance.
The minimum drive count for this setup would be 2 * (4 + 1) + 1 (hot spare) = 11 drives.
RAID 5 Requirements:
This configuration ensures that the dynamic pool has enough drives to maintain performance and data protection according to Dell's best practices.
Dell Midrange Storage Reference:
Dell Unity XT documentation provides detailed guidelines on RAID configurations and the minimum drive requirements for dynamic pools.
Community forums and support resources from Dell Technologies offer insights into best practices for configuring RAID and dynamic pools.
Which tool must a Solution Architect use to check compatibility of a new storage solution with an existing infrastructure?
Which two options are input parameters for Unity Designer? (Select 2)
Unity Designer is a tool used to design and configure Dell EMC Unity storage systems. Two of the key input parameters for Unity Designer are Block and File resources, which include configuring LUNs, NAS servers, and file systems, and Drive Modules, which refer to the physical drives and their configurations within the storage system.
Dell EMC Unity Designer User Guide.
Dell EMC Unity Configuration Best Practices.
85 questions covering all exam domains, starting from $20
Exam domains verified against: Official Dell EMC D-MSS-DS-23 exam guide, last checked September 2026.
This objective area covers best practice recommendations for system configuration, hardware capacity planning, deployment models, and clustering techniques. Candidates should understand how to configure Dell Unity and PowerStore systems according to industry standards and optimize backend connectivity for performance.
This objective area focuses on the planning, sizing, and design phases of a midrange solution engagement. Candidates must conduct site evaluations and remediation processes while considering performance parameters, environmental constraints, and workload characterization to inform design decisions.
Sample question from this domain above: Q2
This objective area covers sizing methodologies for storage solutions and design methods for creating scalable systems. Candidates should be familiar with sizing tools such as the Midrange Sizer for Unity and understand the deliverables associated with solution sizing.
Common questions about the exam itself
