SF-Data-Arch Practice Test 13 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A Salesforce architect is designing a data model for a custom object that must support a strict one-to-many relationship where each child record must have a parent, and the parent's sharing settings should automatically control child record access. The architect also needs to ensure that deleting a parent cascades to delete all related children. Which relationship type should be used?

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

Accepted Answer

Master-detail relationship. A master-detail relationship is the only standard relationship that enforces a required parent, inherits the parent's sharing settings, and automatically deletes children when the parent is deleted. The other options either lack sharing inheritance, are limited to User, or model a different cardinality. Therefore, the master-detail relationship meets all stated requirements without custom automation.

Answer

Hierarchical relationship

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Lookup relationship with required field and cascade delete

Answer

Many-to-many relationship via junction object

Question 2

A financial services company must retain Salesforce records for seven years to satisfy a regulator. Records older than two years are rarely accessed but must remain retrievable within 48 hours if requested. The org's data volume is growing 40 percent per year, and the architect wants to minimize storage cost while preserving the ability to restore records with their original Salesforce IDs and relationships. Which approach best meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use Salesforce Big Objects to archive records and query them with Async SOQL when a regulatory request arrives.. Archiving to Big Objects keeps data on-platform, preserves identifiers and relationships, and costs far less than keeping everything in standard storage. Async SOQL supports bulk retrieval so records can be produced within the 48-hour window. Deleting records, exporting to CSV, or simply buying more storage each fail at least one of the three requirements: retention, retrievability, or cost.

Answer

Increase the org's data storage allocation by purchasing additional storage blocks and keep all records online indefinitely.

Answer

Enable Data Storage Management by deleting records older than two years and relying on Salesforce Recycle Bin for recovery.

Answer

Export older records to a CSV file stored in an on-premises file share and delete them from Salesforce.

Question 3

Universal Containers is importing 5 million child records into a custom object using the Bulk API in parallel mode. The load frequently fails due to UNABLE_TO_LOCK_ROW errors because many child records share the same parent account. Which strategy should the architect recommend to resolve this failure?

Accepted Answer

Sort the CSV file by ParentId and process the data load in serial mode.. Bulk API parallel processing often triggers lock contention when multiple batches attempt to update different child records that roll up to the same parent record simultaneously. By organizing the CSV file such that records with the same parent are grouped together and then processing the load in serial mode, the system ensures that only one batch accesses a parent at a time.

Answer

Disable all triggers and validation rules on the child object during the import.

Answer

Increase the batch size to 10,000 records per batch in the Bulk API settings.

Answer

Enable PK Chunking to split the data load into smaller, manageable pieces.

Question 4

Universal Containers needs to access real-time order data stored in an external legacy ERP system within Salesforce without storing the data locally. Which Salesforce feature is most appropriate for this data management requirement?

Accepted Answer

Salesforce Connect using an OData adapter.. Salesforce Connect allows for the integration of external data sources via OData or custom adapters, exposing external data as External Objects. This allows users to view and interact with the data in real-time within Salesforce without the storage costs or synchronization issues associated with physically importing the data.

Answer

Bulk API 2.0 with a scheduled middleware sync.

Answer

Change Data Capture (CDC) to monitor ERP updates.

Answer

Apex Callouts to a REST endpoint on the ERP.

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. An architect is reviewing an error log from a high-volume data load. Which pattern should be implemented to resolve this limit violation?

Accepted Answer

Implement the Bulk DML Pattern using collections.. The error indicates that DML operations are occurring inside a loop, exceeding the Salesforce governor limit of 150 DML statements per transaction. To resolve this, developers must use the Bulk Pattern, which involves collecting records in a collection (List or Map) and performing a single DML operation outside of the loop. This ensures efficient resource usage and prevents transactions from failing during high-volume data processing scenarios.

Answer

Increase the batch size in the data loader settings.

Answer

Convert the trigger to an asynchronous future method.

Answer

Increase the Apex CPU time limit in the Setup menu.

Question 6

A bank requires a full audit trail of all record changes for compliance. What is the most effective way to track changes to sensitive fields?

Accepted Answer

Use Field Audit Trail (Shield).. Field Audit Trail is the most reliable way to meet regulatory compliance requirements for tracking data history. Unlike standard Field History Tracking, which is limited in retention and volume, Field Audit Trail allows for long-term retention and higher storage limits. This is essential for highly regulated industries like banking, where historical data accuracy and a permanent audit trail are mandatory for legal and security compliance.

Answer

Enable standard Field History Tracking.

Answer

Create a custom 'Audit' object with triggers.

Answer

Schedule daily exports of all records.

Question 7

When designing a master data management (MDM) strategy for Salesforce, which THREE factors are critical to preventing duplicate data across the enterprise? (Select THREE)

Accepted Answer

Implementing standard and custom Matching Rules.. Effective MDM strategies require a combination of automated matching rules, robust integration standards, and consistent data governance. These factors ensure that data entered through various channels is normalized and deduped at the point of entry. By implementing these controls, organizations maintain a single source of truth, improve data quality, and reduce the operational costs associated with manual data cleansing and conflicting records within their Salesforce environment.

Answer

Enforcing data entry through API-only integrations.

Answer

Regularly increasing the Data Storage capacity.

Question 8

An organization has 50 million records in a custom object. They need to report on historical snapshots weekly. What is the best strategy to manage storage while keeping data available?

Accepted Answer

Use Big Objects. Big Objects are designed for massive scale, supporting billions of records with optimized storage costs. By moving historical snapshot data to Big Objects, the organization retains accessibility for reporting via asynchronous queries or external tools without consuming standard Salesforce storage limits. This strategy preserves database performance for the active operational records while ensuring compliance and historical availability for long-term analytical business requirements.

Answer

Use standard Salesforce objects

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Move data to a sandbox

Answer

Use Platform Events

Question 9

An enterprise organization is experiencing frequent data skew issues on the Account object, leading to severe record locking and performance degradation during parallel batch updates. What is the primary architectural cause of Account data skew in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

Associating over 10,000 child records, such as Contacts or Cases, with a single parent Account record in the database.. Data skew occurs when an exceptionally high volume of child records are associated with a single parent record. During DML operations, Salesforce locks the parent record to maintain referential integrity, blocking concurrent threads attempting to update related children and causing transaction timeouts.

Answer

Having more than 10,000 custom fields defined across multiple page layouts within the Account object schema.

Answer

Assigning more than 50 active workflow rules that evaluate every record modification synchronously.

Answer

Utilizing person accounts alongside standard business accounts in a high-volume multi-region Salesforce implementation.

Question 10

When designing a large-scale data architecture, what is the primary consideration regarding the 'Skinny Table' feature in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

They should be requested through Salesforce Support for specific performance needs.. Skinny tables are used to optimize read-only performance for reports and list views by denormalizing data into a single table. They are highly effective for performance, but they are maintenance-intensive because they require Salesforce Support to enable and update. They are not a general-purpose solution for transactional data; rather, they are a performance-tuning tool meant for specific, high-volume reporting needs that cannot be satisfied by standard indexes alone.

Answer

They automatically update whenever a record is modified by a user.

Answer

They are best used to improve write performance for high-volume transactions.

Answer

They allow for unlimited columns and data types in the table structure.

Question 11

An organization is consolidating multiple legacy systems into Salesforce. They need to track the lineage of data records back to their source systems for audit purposes. What is the recommended strategy for maintaining data lineage?

Accepted Answer

Create a custom field marked as an External ID to store legacy identifiers.. The recommended approach is to create a dedicated 'External ID' custom field on relevant objects to store the source system's unique identifier. This field should be marked as an External ID and indexed. This allows for easy upsert operations, prevents duplicates during ongoing synchronization, and provides a clear audit trail for compliance teams to trace records back to their original source systems during data lifecycle management.

Answer

Store the source system ID in the standard Name field.

Answer

Use the Salesforce ID as the source record identifier in legacy systems.

Answer

Append the source system name to the record's description field.

Question 12

Which field type should be used for a primary key when integrating data from an external ERP system into Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

External ID field. External IDs are critical for data integration. By marking a field as an External ID and setting it to Unique, Salesforce enables the 'Upsert' operation. This prevents duplicate records by matching the external system's primary key to the Salesforce record, ensuring data consistency across disparate platforms. This is the standard best practice for any integration involving master data management or synchronization between external systems and Salesforce.

Answer

Text field

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Auto-number field

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Formula field

Question 13

A company is migrating legacy data and needs to preserve the CreatedDate and CreatedById. Which feature should they enable?

Accepted Answer

Set Audit Fields permission. By default, Salesforce sets the CreatedDate and CreatedById to the time and user of the import. To preserve historical audit logs, Salesforce provides the 'Set Audit Fields' permission. This is vital for data migration projects where historical accuracy is required for compliance and reporting. Without this, the audit trail of the legacy system is lost, which can lead to significant regulatory and reporting issues.

Answer

Data Loader batch settings

Answer

Field History Tracking

Answer

Owner migration setting

Question 14

A Data Architect is analyzing a legacy system migration. Which THREE factors should be evaluated before deciding between a Lookup or a Master-Detail relationship?

Accepted Answer

Whether child records should be automatically deleted if the parent is deleted.. Choosing the right relationship is foundational to Salesforce architecture. Factors like data ownership, lifecycle dependency, and reporting needs drive the decision. A Master-Detail relationship implies structural dependency, while a Lookup offers flexibility. Understanding these nuances early in the migration prevents architectural debt, ensures correct security enforcement, and aligns the data model with the organization's business process requirements for record access and summarization.

Answer

The number of child records expected to be created.

Answer

The color of the record detail page header.

Question 15

Universal Containers requires a many-to-many relationship between Projects and Consultants. They need to track specific attributes like 'Hourly Rate' and 'Assigned Role' on the relationship itself. Which approach should a Data Architect recommend?

Accepted Answer

Implement a custom object that serves as a junction object between Projects and Consultants.. A Junction Object is the standard Salesforce solution for many-to-many relationships. By creating a custom object between Projects and Consultants, the architect can include extra fields to store metadata about the assignment. This design ensures referential integrity, enables robust reporting across both parent objects, and allows for security modeling via Master-Detail or Lookup relationships, which is essential for complex consulting resource management.

Answer

Create a multi-select picklist on the Project object containing all available Consultants.

Answer

Add a lookup field on the Project object pointing to the Consultant object.

Answer

Use a custom metadata type to map consultants to projects.