SF-Data-Arch Data Migration — 25 Questions

Question 1

Refer to the exhibit. A data migration is failing on Account upserts using an external ID field. What is the most likely cause of this error?

Accepted Answer

The source data contains duplicate external ID values for distinct records.. The error indicates that the incoming data contains a duplicate value for a field marked as a unique external ID. Even if the 'Upsert' operation is used, if the record name or another unique constraint is violated by the incoming data set, the transaction fails. Data architects must ensure unique key validation is performed on the source data set before initiating the migration process.

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The integration user lacks access to the Name field.

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The bulk API batch size is set too high for the server.

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The target organization has existing records with duplicate names.

Question 2

A company is migrating data from a legacy SQL database to Salesforce. They need to map complex relationships between Accounts, Contacts, and custom 'Projects'. What is the recommended strategy for handling foreign keys during migration?

Accepted Answer

Map legacy IDs to an external ID field in Salesforce.. The recommended approach is to use a staging table or temporary custom field to store the legacy unique identifier. By maintaining this legacy key in Salesforce, architects can perform multi-pass loads. This allows for the resolution of circular dependencies and complex lookups by querying the temporary key to map the Salesforce record ID during subsequent load phases.

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Query all records into memory and use a VLOOKUP in Excel.

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Migrate data in a single flat file to avoid relationship errors.

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Use the Salesforce ID generation tool during migration.

Question 3

Which THREE activities are standard for the 'Post-Migration' phase of a project?

Accepted Answer

Re-enable Apex triggers and validation rules.. The post-migration phase is dedicated to verification, validation, and system cleanup. Architects must reconcile record counts to ensure no data was lost, validate that critical business processes (like workflows and triggers) are functioning correctly under the new load, and perform 'clean-up' tasks such as re-enabling automation that was disabled for the migration to ensure the platform is ready for business-as-usual operations.

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Delete all source data files.

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Reset all user passwords in the target org.

Question 4

A company is migrating 50 million records into Salesforce. To maintain data integrity, they must ensure that external IDs are utilized correctly. What is the primary advantage of using External IDs during the data migration process?

Accepted Answer

They prevent the need for mapping the Salesforce record ID during subsequent data loads.. External IDs are critical in Salesforce data migrations because they allow for non-destructive upserts, preventing duplicate record creation. By mapping a unique field from the source system to a Salesforce External ID field, the system can automatically match existing records instead of generating new ones. This mechanism is essential for maintaining relational integrity across large datasets, especially when dealing with parent-child relationships and system synchronization cycles where source data keys are persisted.

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They allow for the automatic creation of custom fields during the bulk loading process.

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They enable the bypass of validation rules during initial record insertion.

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They increase the throughput limit of the Bulk API by indexing the source data.

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. A data architect is performing a bulk migration of Accounts and related Contacts. During the migration, the team encounters the specified error. What should the architect do to resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Sort the data file by the Parent Account ID column before initiating the load process.. The error indicates a record locking contention, commonly occurring when multiple threads or batches attempt to update the same parent record simultaneously. This is frequent in parent-child loads where children point to the same Account. To resolve this, the architect must reduce the batch size to limit concurrent updates or sort the load file by the parent ID to ensure all children of one parent are processed sequentially within the same batch.

Answer

Increase the batch size in the data loader settings to process more records per transaction.

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Disable all validation rules and triggers on the Account and Contact objects.

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Upgrade the Salesforce edition to Unlimited to gain higher API concurrency limits.

Question 6

An organization is planning a migration from a legacy CRM to Salesforce. The data volume is 10 million records. Which strategy should be used to minimize the risk of hitting Salesforce governor limits?

Accepted Answer

Implement the Bulk API 2.0 with a batch size of 10,000 records.. For large-scale data migrations, using the Bulk API is the recommended approach to bypass standard API limits and optimize performance. By processing records in batches of up to 10,000, the Bulk API minimizes the impact of per-transaction limits. Furthermore, implementing a phased migration strategy and staging the data in Salesforce ensures that the database load is distributed, maintaining stability and avoiding unexpected governor limit exceptions during the transition.

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Use the standard SOAP API for all operations to ensure transactional consistency.

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Perform the migration using Apex batch classes to bypass all record limits.

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Execute the migration during peak hours to utilize the maximum available resources.

Question 7

A data architect is preparing to migrate millions of records into a new Salesforce Org. Which THREE actions should be taken prior to the migration to ensure success?

Accepted Answer

Disable all triggers, validation rules, and flows on the target objects.. Preparation is the most critical phase of data migration. Disabling unnecessary automation prevents overhead, defining external IDs ensures relational integrity, and cleaning source data prevents 'garbage in, garbage out' scenarios. These steps collectively minimize processing time, prevent data corruption, and ensure that the resulting dataset in Salesforce accurately reflects the source system's state without hitting performance bottlenecks caused by intensive triggers, flows, or validation logic that are not required for static historical data.

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Populate all fields with placeholder data to ensure the record is complete.

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Increase the Salesforce API limit for the migration user.

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. The architect is configuring a bulk load operation. Given the JSON configuration shown, what is the risk of using 'Parallel' serial mode?

Accepted Answer

It increases the risk of row-level locking contention on parent records.. The 'Parallel' serial mode increases throughput by processing batches simultaneously, but it significantly increases the probability of record locking errors. When multiple batches contain related records (e.g., child records for the same parent), the system may attempt to lock the same parent record concurrently. This causes row-level contention, resulting in failed records that require re-processing, often offsetting the time gains achieved by parallel execution during a large-scale data migration.

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It will exceed the daily API request limit faster than Serial mode.

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It prevents the usage of External IDs for record matching.

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It requires the target object to have a custom index on the External ID.

Question 9

A company is migrating attachments from a legacy system into Salesforce. Due to the high volume, what is the recommended architecture?

Accepted Answer

Utilize the Salesforce Files API for asynchronous binary migration.. Migrating large volumes of attachments (e.g., PDFs, images) is best handled by using the Salesforce Files API. Unlike the legacy Attachment object, Files support larger sizes, better versioning, and improved security. The architecture should involve uploading files to a staging area, then using the API to associate them with the parent record. This approach bypasses standard load limits and ensures the attachment metadata is correctly indexed.

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Store all attachments as base64 strings in a custom Text field.

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Use the Bulk API to upload binary files directly as attachments.

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Migrate all attachments to a public cloud storage and store URLs in Salesforce.

Question 10

During a data migration project, a requirement emerges to map legacy IDs to a new Salesforce field for audit purposes. Which field type should be selected for the 'Legacy_ID__c' field?

Accepted Answer

Text field with the 'External ID' and 'Unique' attributes checked.. When storing external identifiers, the field should always be marked as an 'External ID' and indexed. This enables quick lookups and facilitates future upsert operations. Using an 'External ID' field type provides built-in validation to ensure uniqueness if required and significantly speeds up querying the data, which is essential for ongoing system maintenance and data synchronization between the legacy system and Salesforce.

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Number field to ensure only numeric IDs are stored.

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Long Text Area field to accommodate varying ID lengths.

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Encrypted Text field for security compliance.

Question 11

When migrating user data, which TWO items must be handled differently compared to standard object migration?

Accepted Answer

User records must be linked to an active Profile and Role.. User migration is complex because it involves identity, security, and license management. You cannot simply 'upsert' users like other objects without considering their active status and role. Specifically, you must map profiles and roles correctly to ensure the user has the right permissions, and you must decide whether to activate them immediately, which might trigger unwanted email notifications. Planning these elements is critical to avoid accidental system access or email spam.

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User records must be migrated using a CSV file without headers.

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Users should be loaded into the system as inactive by default.

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Users must be migrated before any other data objects.

Question 12

An architect is planning a data migration and needs to ensure that historical data does not trigger automated workflow rules or email alerts. How can this be achieved?

Accepted Answer

Configure the migration tool settings to ignore workflow rules.. Salesforce provides options in the Data Loader to bypass workflow rules and process automation. By deselecting the 'Trigger Workflow Rules' and 'Trigger Flows' checkboxes, the architect ensures that the migration process is strictly limited to data insertion. This is vital to prevent unintended actions, such as sending thousands of emails to customers or updating related records, which could corrupt the data state or overwhelm the organization's email limits.

Answer

Manually delete all workflow rules before the migration.

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Use the 'Trigger Workflow Rules' setting in the Data Loader.

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Set the email deliverability to 'No Access' for all users.

Question 13

A Salesforce data architect is migrating 2 million Account records from a legacy CRM. The legacy system uses a 15-character alphanumeric Account Number as the unique identifier. The architect needs to preserve this identifier in Salesforce for integration with an external ERP system. Which field type should be used for the Account Number field in Salesforce?

Accepted Answer

Text(15). The legacy Account Number is a 15-character alphanumeric string that must be preserved exactly for ERP integration. A Text(15) field captures the value without alteration, ensuring the unique identifier remains intact. Numeric fields would fail on alphanumeric characters or strip leading zeros, while AutoNumber would generate new values. External ID is an attribute, not a standalone type, so Text is the correct choice.

Answer

External ID

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AutoNumber

Answer

Number(15,0)

Question 14

A financial services company is migrating 12 million legacy transaction records into a custom object Transaction__c. The records must be loaded during a weekend maintenance window, and the business requires that if any record fails validation, the entire batch of 200 records should be rolled back so that partial data is never committed. The architect plans to use the Bulk API 2.0. Which setting should be configured to meet the all-or-nothing requirement per batch?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'AllOrNone' header set to true in the Bulk API 2.0 ingest job.. The AllOrNone header in Bulk API 2.0 provides batch-level transactional rollback. When set to true, a single record failure causes the entire batch to fail and no records from that batch are committed. This is the correct way to enforce all-or-nothing semantics during a high-volume load without writing custom Apex.

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Enable 'Serial' mode and reduce the batch size to 1 record.

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Set the 'DuplicateRule' header to include duplicate rules during load.

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Set the 'Assignment Rule' header to skip assignment rules.

Question 15

A data architect is planning to migrate 5 million Contact records from a legacy system into Salesforce Sales Cloud. The legacy data contains duplicate Contacts based on Email address, and the business wants to prevent duplicates in Salesforce. The architect must also ensure that the migration does not trigger existing Apex triggers and validation rules. Which two actions should the architect take before loading the data? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Enable Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules for Contacts to block duplicates during load.. To prevent duplicates based on Email, the architect must activate Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules for Contacts. To avoid triggering Apex and validation rules, these should be temporarily disabled during the load. These two actions directly address the stated requirements. Other options like batch size, External ID, or scheduling are helpful but not essential for meeting the specific constraints.

Answer

Use the Data Loader in Batch mode with a batch size of 200.

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Schedule the migration during off-peak hours to reduce impact on users.

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Create a custom External ID field on Contact for the legacy system ID.

Question 16

A data architect is migrating 15 million records from a legacy order management system into a custom object in Salesforce. The legacy system uses a 32-character hexadecimal string as the unique record identifier. This identifier must be preserved in Salesforce for cross-system reconciliation and must support exact-match lookups in SOQL and list views. The architect needs to choose the appropriate custom field type. Which field type should be used?

Accepted Answer

Text (32) with Unique and External ID attributes enabled. The legacy identifier is a 32-character hexadecimal string requiring exact-match lookups at scale. A Text(32) field with Unique and External ID attributes enabled provides the correct storage size, enforces uniqueness, and creates the index necessary for performant SOQL and list view filtering. External ID also supports upsert, which is essential for reconciling records during migration.

Answer

Number (18, 0)

Answer

External ID (Text, 32)

Answer

Text (80)

Question 17

A data architect is planning to migrate 3 million Case records and their related Case Comments from a legacy system into Salesforce Service Cloud. The legacy system stores comments as a single text blob per Case. The architect needs to preserve the chronological order of comments and ensure they are visible in the Case feed. Which migration approach should be used?

Accepted Answer

Load Cases first, then load Case Comments using the CaseComment object via the Bulk API, setting the ParentId to the Case ID.. The CaseComment object is the standard way to store comments on a Case, and it supports chronological ordering through the CreatedDate field, which can be preserved during migration. Loading Cases first provides the necessary parent IDs for the CaseComment records. This ensures comments are visible in the Case feed and maintain their original sequence.

Answer

Load Cases, then use the FeedItem object to insert comments, setting the ParentId to the Case ID and Type to 'TextPost'.

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Load Cases with a rich text field containing all comments concatenated, and use a formula to display them in the feed.

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Load Cases and then use the Attachment object to store each comment as a separate text file attached to the Case.

Question 18

A healthcare provider is migrating 8 million Patient__c records from a legacy system into Salesforce. The legacy data contains 300,000 records with missing or invalid values in the required field MRN__c (Medical Record Number). The business wants to load all valid records immediately and quarantine the invalid ones for later correction without failing the entire job. The architect will use Bulk API 2.0 with a CSV source. Which approach best meets the requirement?

Accepted Answer

Split the source into two files: one containing only records with valid MRN__c values, and another containing the invalid records. Load the valid file normally; store the invalid file for later correction.. Pre-splitting the source into valid and invalid subsets is the most controlled approach. It ensures valid records are loaded without interruption while invalid records are isolated for remediation. This avoids the overhead of parsing error logs and prevents partial failures from affecting the overall migration timeline.

Answer

Load all records and rely on Salesforce validation rules to reject invalid MRN__c values; then query the error log to reprocess failures.

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Use Data Loader with the 'Allow Field Truncation' option and set MRN__c to a default placeholder value for missing entries.

Answer

Enable AllOrNone and load all records in a single batch so that invalid records cause a full rollback.

Question 19

A Salesforce architect is migrating 10 million Opportunity records from a legacy system. The legacy data contains Opportunities with close dates ranging from 2000 to 2020. The architect needs to ensure that after migration, these historical Opportunities do not trigger any existing workflow rules, process builders, or Apex triggers that could send emails or update related records. Which approach should the architect take during the migration?

Accepted Answer

Temporarily deactivate all workflow rules, process builders, and Apex triggers on the Opportunity object before the migration, then reactivate them afterward.. To prevent automation from firing on historical Opportunities, the architect should temporarily deactivate workflow rules, process builders, and Apex triggers on the Opportunity object before the load. This ensures no emails are sent or unintended updates occur. After the migration, reactivating automation restores normal business processes without affecting the migrated data.

Answer

Load the Opportunities with a future close date and then update them to the historical dates in a second pass, so automation only fires on the update.

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Use the Bulk API with the 'Serial' mode and set the batch size to 1 to process records individually and bypass automation.

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Use the Data Loader's 'Bulk API' option with the 'Allow Field Truncation' setting enabled to skip automation.

Question 20

An architect is planning a data migration for a Salesforce org that has a complex data model with many lookup and master-detail relationships. The migration will be performed using Bulk API 2.0. Which TWO considerations are critical to ensure successful loading of related records? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Load parent records before child records to satisfy referential integrity constraints.. Loading parent records before child records ensures that referential integrity constraints are met. Using external ID fields on parent objects allows child records to reference parents by their external IDs, which Salesforce resolves during load. This eliminates the need for post-load ID mapping and is essential when using Bulk API 2.0, as it does not support complex relationship mapping. Together, these two practices ensure successful loading of related records.

Answer

Set the Bulk API 2.0 job to use parallel processing mode to increase throughput.

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Disable all validation rules and triggers on the objects being loaded to improve performance.

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Ensure that all lookup relationships are optional (not required) to avoid load failures.