SF-Data-Arch Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A data architect is migrating 20 million Case records from a legacy system into Salesforce. The legacy system has a 'Case_Status__c' field that must map to the standard Case Status picklist. The legacy values include 'Open', 'Closed', 'Escalated', 'Pending', and 'Resolved'. The Salesforce Case Status picklist contains 'New', 'Working', 'Escalated', 'Closed', and 'Pending'. The architect needs to ensure that the migration does not fail due to picklist value mismatches. Which approach should be taken?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Use an ETL transformation to map 'Open' to 'New' and 'Resolved' to 'Closed' before loading the data.. The architect should use an ETL transformation to map legacy picklist values to valid Salesforce values before loading. Mapping 'Open' to 'New' and 'Resolved' to 'Closed' ensures the data conforms to the standard Case Status picklist, preventing load failures and maintaining data integrity. This approach is scalable for 20 million records.

Answer

Load the legacy values as-is into a custom text field and create a formula field to display the mapped Salesforce status.

Answer

Disable picklist validation on the Case Status field during the migration and re-enable it afterward.

Answer

Add the missing legacy values ('Open' and 'Resolved') to the Salesforce Case Status picklist before the migration.

Question 2

A data architect is designing a solution for a custom object Order__c that will contain 30 million records. Users need to frequently query orders by Customer__c (a lookup to Account) and Order_Date__c. The architect plans to create a composite custom index on Customer__c and Order_Date__c. Which consideration is most critical for the index to be used by the query optimizer?

Accepted Answer

The leading field in the composite index must be highly selective for the queries being executed.. For a composite index to be used by the query optimizer, the leading field must be selective. In this scenario, queries filter by Customer__c and Order_Date__c. If Customer__c is highly selective (e.g., a specific customer), the index will be used. If Customer__c is not selective, the optimizer may perform a full scan. Therefore, the most critical consideration is the selectivity of the leading field.

Answer

The composite index must include at least three fields to be effective for large data volumes.

Answer

The composite index must be created on fields that are not already indexed by default.

Answer

The fields in the composite index must be in the same order as they appear in the SOQL WHERE clause.

Question 3

A multinational corporation is migrating 2 million Account records and 5 million Contact records from a legacy CRM into Salesforce. The legacy system stores the Account's legacy ID on the Contact record as a foreign key. The target Salesforce org uses an external ID field on Account called Legacy_ID__c. What is the most efficient way to associate Contacts with their Accounts during the migration?

Accepted Answer

Migrate Accounts first, then migrate Contacts with a lookup to Account using the Legacy_ID__c field as the external ID in the Account relationship field.. Migrating Accounts first and then using the external ID field Legacy_ID__c in the Contact's Account lookup field allows Salesforce to automatically resolve the relationship. This is the most efficient method because it leverages built-in external ID resolution during data load, eliminating the need for post-migration updates or complex Apex jobs. It ensures referential integrity and scales well for large data volumes.

Answer

Migrate Contacts first with a placeholder Account, then migrate Accounts and update Contacts via a batch Apex job.

Answer

Export the Salesforce Account record IDs after migration, then use those IDs to update the Contact records in the legacy system before migrating Contacts.

Answer

Use the Data Loader's 'Insert' operation for Contacts and rely on Salesforce's auto-association feature to link Contacts to Accounts based on matching names.

Question 4

A financial services org needs to record every change to the 'Credit_Score__c' field on Contact for regulatory audit, including the prior value, the new value, the user, and the timestamp. The data volume is moderate and auditors query the history by Contact. Which approach should the architect recommend?

Accepted Answer

Enable Field History Tracking on Credit_Score__c and expose the related history list on the Contact page layout.. Field History Tracking is purpose-built to capture old value, new value, user, and timestamp for selected fields, and it surfaces that data in a related list that auditors can query and report on. For a moderate-volume regulatory need on a specific field, it avoids the overhead of a custom audit object or streaming integration.

Answer

Use a before-save Flow to copy the previous Credit_Score__c value into a text field on Contact for comparison.

Answer

Enable Change Data Capture on Contact and subscribe to the event channel from an external system.

Answer

Create a custom object 'Credit_Score_Audit__c' with a Flow that inserts a record on every Contact update.

Question 5

A custom object 'Invoice__c' contains 8 million records and has a lookup to Account. A nightly batch job deletes approximately 2 million old invoices using Database.delete() in batches of 200. Users report that the batch sometimes fails with 'UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW' errors when running concurrently with account updates. What is the most likely cause of these lock contention errors?

Accepted Answer

The delete operation is acquiring exclusive locks on the parent Account records referenced by the deleted invoices.. Deleting child records in a lookup relationship acquires exclusive locks on the parent records to maintain referential integrity. When concurrent updates target those same parent Accounts, lock contention triggers UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW errors. This is a common issue with high-volume deletes on objects with lookups to frequently updated parents.

Answer

The nightly batch job is running in parallel mode, which causes multiple batch threads to compete for the same parent Account locks.

Answer

The Invoice__c records have a master-detail relationship to Account, so deleting them cascades and locks all child records simultaneously.

Answer

The batch size of 200 is too large, causing the database to lock the entire Invoice__c table during each batch execution.

Question 6

A data architect is preparing to migrate 20 million Opportunity records from a legacy CRM into Salesforce. The source data includes Opportunities with related OpportunityLineItem records and historical StageName values. The architect must ensure that the migration preserves data integrity and avoids common Bulk API pitfalls. Which TWO actions should the architect take before initiating the load? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Load Opportunity records first, then load OpportunityLineItem records using the parent Opportunity's External ID to establish the relationship.. Loading parents before children using an External ID preserves referential integrity, and marking the External ID as Unique supports upsert and prevents duplicates. Together, these actions address the core data integrity concerns for a large Opportunity migration with related line items.

Answer

Disable all validation rules, workflow rules, and triggers on Opportunity during the load to improve performance.

Answer

Set the Batch Size to 1 record to avoid governor limit issues and ensure maximum error isolation.

Answer

Enable AllOrNone on all Bulk API batches to guarantee that no partial data is committed if a single record fails.

Question 7

A Salesforce architect is designing a data model for a recruiting application. A Candidate can apply to many Positions, and a Position can receive applications from many Candidates. For each application, the company needs to track the Application Date and the Source (for example, LinkedIn or Referral). Which data modeling approach should the architect use?

Accepted Answer

Create a junction object Application__c with master-detail relationships to both Candidate and Position, and add custom fields for Application Date and Source.. The many-to-many relationship between Candidate and Position requires a junction object. That object holds the two master-detail relationships and the fields that describe each application, such as Application Date and Source. Master-detail relationships on the junction enforce that every application has both a candidate and a position, and they provide cascade delete and sharing inheritance. Other approaches either cannot store per-application attributes or do not enforce referential integrity.

Answer

Create a lookup relationship from Candidate to Position and a lookup relationship from Position to Candidate.

Answer

Add two lookup fields on the Candidate object, one for Position and one for Application Date, and a text field for Source.

Answer

Create a custom object Application__c with lookup relationships to Candidate and Position, and use a validation rule to prevent duplicates.

Question 8

A Salesforce architect is designing a data model for a custom object 'Case__c' that needs to track the priority of each case. The priority values must be limited to a predefined list: Low, Medium, High, and Critical. Users should be able to select only one value, and the values should be easily reportable. Which field type should be used?

Accepted Answer

Picklist. A Picklist field is designed to allow a single selection from a predefined list of values, making it ideal for the priority field. It is easily reportable and enforces the one-value constraint. The other options either allow multiple selections, require custom validation, or introduce unnecessary complexity with a custom object.

Answer

Lookup relationship to a custom object 'Priority__c'

Answer

Text field with a validation rule

Answer

Multi-select Picklist

Question 9

A data architect is migrating 4 million legacy Customer__c records into Salesforce using the Bulk API. The source system exports a CSV with a column 'Legacy_Id__c' that must remain unique and searchable for downstream integrations. After the initial load, the architect notices duplicate Customer__c records were created because the External ID field was not marked as unique. Which Salesforce field configuration should have been applied to Legacy_Id__c to prevent duplicates during upsert?

Accepted Answer

Mark the field as an External ID and select 'Unique' in the field definition.. An External ID field with the Unique attribute is the correct mechanism for upsert matching and duplicate prevention. When the Bulk API processes an upsert, it uses the External ID to determine whether to insert or update. Without the Unique constraint, Salesforce cannot reliably match records, and duplicate Legacy_Id__c values can result in multiple Customer__c records.

Answer

Set the field type to Text (Encrypted) and enable 'Do Not Track History'.

Answer

Create a validation rule that compares Legacy_Id__c to existing records.

Answer

Enable 'Required' on the field and use Data Loader's 'Insert' operation instead of 'Upsert'.

Question 10

Universal Containers is implementing a data governance framework. They need to ensure that data quality is maintained across multiple business units. Which two practices should the data architect recommend to enforce data quality at the point of entry? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Implement duplicate rules to block or alert on duplicate records.. To enforce data quality at the point of entry, the architect should implement validation rules to reject invalid data and duplicate rules to prevent duplicates. These are proactive controls that operate when records are created or updated. They are standard Salesforce features that can be configured declaratively and apply across all entry points, including UI, API, and integrations, ensuring consistent data governance.

Answer

Enable field history tracking on all fields to audit changes.

Answer

Use Data Loader to perform a nightly update to correct inconsistencies.

Answer

Schedule a weekly report to identify records with missing values.

Question 11

A data architect is designing a data retention policy for a custom object Event_Log__c that stores 20 million records per year. The business requires that records older than two years be archived to an external system but remain accessible for audit purposes. What is the most appropriate approach to meet these requirements while minimizing storage costs?

Accepted Answer

Implement a scheduled batch process that exports records older than two years to an external data warehouse and then deletes them from Salesforce.. A data retention policy requires physically moving data out of Salesforce to reduce storage and cost. A scheduled batch export followed by deletion is a standard pattern for archiving large volumes. It ensures records older than the retention period are removed from Salesforce while remaining available externally for audit. This approach is scalable and can be automated, aligning with data management best practices.

Answer

Enable field history tracking on Event_Log__c to retain old values for two years.

Answer

Create a report filter to hide records older than two years from users.

Answer

Use Salesforce Big Objects to store all Event_Log__c records indefinitely.

Question 12

A Salesforce architect is designing a data model for a custom object 'Invoice__c' that will have a master-detail relationship to 'Account'. The architect needs to ensure that the data model supports efficient reporting and aggregation. Which two considerations are critical when designing this master-detail relationship? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

The child object inherits the sharing settings of the parent object.. Master-detail relationships enforce sharing inheritance from parent to child and enable roll-up summary fields on the parent for aggregation. These two features are critical for designing efficient reporting and security. The other options describe limitations or incorrect behaviors, such as independent sharing rules or ease of conversion, which do not apply to master-detail relationships.

Answer

The master-detail relationship can be converted to a lookup relationship at any time without restrictions.

Answer

The child object can have its own sharing rules independent of the parent.

Answer

The child object must have a lookup relationship to the parent instead of master-detail for roll-up summaries.

Question 13

A data architect at a healthcare company needs to ensure that only authorized users can view sensitive patient information stored in custom fields on the Patient__c object. The organization uses a role hierarchy and profiles. Which feature should the architect use to restrict access to these fields?

Accepted Answer

Field-level security. Field-level security is the correct feature to restrict access to sensitive fields based on profiles. It allows administrators to hide fields from users who should not see them, regardless of record access. This ensures compliance with privacy regulations by limiting field visibility to authorized personnel only.

Answer

Organization-wide defaults

Answer

Permission sets

Answer

Sharing rules

Question 14

A custom object named Invoice__c contains 15 million records. Reports and list views frequently filter on a custom date field, Invoice_Date__c, and are timing out. The field is not indexed. Which action should a data architect take to improve query performance while keeping the field available for filtering?

Accepted Answer

Create a custom index on Invoice_Date__c because it is used as a filter condition.. For large data volumes, selective queries require indexed filter fields. Requesting a custom index on a frequently filtered custom date field enables the query optimizer to use the index and avoid full table scans. This directly addresses the report and list view timeouts without changing the data model or introducing external dependencies.

Answer

Add a formula field that returns the value of Invoice_Date__c and filter on it instead.

Answer

Convert Invoice_Date__c to an external lookup field using Salesforce Connect.

Answer

Enable Divisions on the Invoice__c object to partition the data.

Question 15

An architect is modeling a case management system where a single Case may be linked to many Product records, and each Product may appear on many Cases. The business needs to report on the quantity and discount negotiated for each Case-Product pairing. Which design should the architect implement?

Accepted Answer

Create a junction object with two Master-Detail relationships, one to Case and one to Product, and add Quantity and Discount fields to the junction object.. Many-to-many relationships in Salesforce are modeled with a junction object that has two Master-Detail relationships. The junction record represents the association itself, which is exactly where pairing-specific attributes such as Quantity and Discount belong. Because both relationships are Master-Detail, the junction inherits sharing from both parents and is automatically deleted when either parent is removed, preserving referential integrity.

Answer

Create a custom object named CaseProduct with a single Lookup to Case and a text field storing a comma-separated list of Product IDs.

Answer

Create a junction object with two Lookup relationships, one to Case and one to Product, and add Quantity and Discount fields to the junction object.

Answer

Create a Lookup relationship from Case to Product and a Lookup relationship from Product to Case.