SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Test 6 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A ServiceNow administrator wants to archive old CMDB history records that are older than 12 months to improve performance. Which approach should be used?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'Archive Old Records' functionality in CMDB Workspace. The CMDB Workspace provides a built-in 'Archive Old Records' functionality specifically designed to move old CMDB history records (e.g., from the `cmdb_ci_history` table) to an archive table, improving performance without data loss. This approach is supported by ServiceNow's recommended best practices for managing CMDB history data, as it preserves records for compliance while reducing the active table size.

Answer

Increase the 'CMDB History Pruning Frequency' property

Answer

Manually delete rows from the 'cmdb_ci_history' table using SQL

Answer

Run a scheduled report to export and then delete records

Question 2

A company is implementing ServiceNow CMDB and wants to ensure that all CIs in the 'Production' environment are backed up daily. What is the best practice to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Configure the instance's automatic daily backup. ServiceNow instances have a built-in automatic daily backup feature that captures the entire instance, including all CMDB records and CIs, regardless of environment. This ensures that production CIs are backed up daily without requiring manual configuration or selective exports, aligning with best practices for data protection and disaster recovery.

Answer

Set the 'cmdb_ci' table's 'Backup' field to true

Answer

Use the 'Export to XML' feature every night for production CIs

Answer

Create a scheduled data export for only production CMDB records

Question 3

An administrator notices that a custom table 'u_custom_infrastructure' was created as a child of 'cmdb_ci'. However, records in this table are not appearing in the CMDB dashboard reports that show all CIs. What is the likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The table is not included in the 'CMDB Base Class' report definition. The CMDB dashboard reports are typically configured to display records from specific base classes or tables. If 'u_custom_infrastructure' is a child of 'cmdb_ci' but is not explicitly included in the 'CMDB Base Class' report definition, the report will not query that table, so its records will not appear. This is a common configuration oversight when extending the CMDB schema.

Answer

The table has permissions that restrict report access

Answer

The records have not passed data certification

Answer

The table's 'Display in CMDB dashboard' property is disabled

Question 4

A junior administrator wants to see which CIs have been updated in the last 24 hours. Which table contains the change log for CMDB CIs?

Accepted Answer

cmdb_ci_history. The `cmdb_ci_history` table is specifically designed to track changes to CMDB CIs, including updates made in the last 24 hours. It stores historical snapshots of CI attribute changes, making it the correct table for a junior administrator to query for recent CI updates.

Answer

sys_journal_field

Answer

sys_audit

Answer

cmdb_ci

Question 5

During a CMDB health assessment, an administrator finds that the 'cmdb_ci_computer' table has 5000 records, but only 3000 have an 'operational_status' of 'In Use'. The administrator wants to view only the records with 'In Use' status in the CMDB reports. What is the most efficient approach?

Accepted Answer

Create a report with a condition where operational_status = 'In Use'. The most efficient approach to view only records with 'In Use' status in CMDB reports is to apply a condition directly within the report definition. This method filters the data at query time without altering the underlying table structure or affecting other users, ensuring that the report shows only the desired subset of records while preserving the full dataset for other purposes.

Answer

Change the 'Display condition' of the table

Answer

Create a domain separation for 'In Use' CIs

Answer

Modify the table's 'Condition Builder' to only show 'In Use' records

Question 6

Which TWO of the following are valid CMDB base classes? (Choose exactly 2.)

Accepted Answer

cmdb_ci. In ServiceNow, the CMDB base classes are the top-level classes from which all other configuration items (CIs) inherit. `cmdb_ci` is the root base class for all CIs, and `cmdb_ci_service` is a base class specifically for business and technical services. Both are defined in the CMDB data model as foundation classes that cannot be deleted and serve as parents for more specific CI types.

Answer

cmdb_ci_win_system

Answer

cmdb_ci_linux_system

Answer

cmdb_ci_computer

Question 7

Which TWO attributes are essential for identifying configuration items in the CMDB to ensure uniqueness? (Choose exactly 2.)

Accepted Answer

MAC address. (MAC address) is correct because a MAC address is a globally unique hardware identifier assigned to network interfaces by the manufacturer, making it a reliable and immutable attribute for uniquely identifying configuration items (CIs) such as servers, switches, and workstations in the CMDB. In ServiceNow, the MAC address is often used as a deduplication key to prevent duplicate CIs, especially when discovered via network probes or agents. Its uniqueness is guaranteed at the hardware level, unlike attributes that can be changed or reassigned.

Answer

Asset tag

Answer

Name

Answer

IP address

Question 8

Which THREE of the following are best practices for CMDB data maintenance? (Choose exactly 3.)

Accepted Answer

Scheduled reconciliation to identify and merge duplicates. Scheduled reconciliation is a core CMDB best practice that uses identification rules to automatically detect and merge duplicate CIs, ensuring a single source of truth. This process relies on the CMDB's reconciliation engine, which compares CI attributes against defined identification and reconciliation rules to resolve conflicts without manual intervention.

Answer

Disabling discovery for all CIs to prevent changes

Answer

Manually updating all CI attributes

Question 9

A company has an enterprise ServiceNow instance with a CMDB that contains over 50,000 CIs. The instance is integrated with multiple discovery tools: ServiceNow Discovery, a third-party IPAM tool, and a cloud management platform. Recently, the CMDB health score dropped significantly due to an increase in duplicate CIs. Upon investigation, you find that many CIs from the IPAM tool have the same serial number as CIs discovered by ServiceNow Discovery, but with slight differences in the hardware model field. Also, the cloud management platform creates CIs with the same name but different serial numbers. The business requires that each physical device should have only one CI record, and the serial number is the authoritative identifier. The current reconciliation rules are set to merge based on name and IP address, but they are not effectively resolving duplicates. What should the administrator do to resolve this issue most effectively?

Accepted Answer

Modify the reconciliation rule to match on serial number instead of name and IP. The business requirement states that serial number is the authoritative identifier for physical devices. By modifying the reconciliation rule to match on serial number instead of name and IP, the system will correctly identify and merge duplicate CIs that share the same serial number, even if other fields like hardware model differ. This directly addresses the root cause of the duplicate CIs from the IPAM tool and cloud management platform.

Answer

Create an approval workflow for every new CI creation to manually check for duplicates

Answer

Add a unique constraint on the serial number field to prevent future duplicates

Answer

Disable the IPAM tool and cloud management platform integrations to stop duplicate creation

Question 10

A company's CMDB has duplicate CIs for the same server due to conflicting identification rules. The admin notices that some CIs are being merged incorrectly. What is the best practice to resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Review and refine the identification rules to ensure uniqueness criteria are correctly defined.. Duplicate CIs in the CMDB arise from conflicting or poorly defined identification rules. The best practice is to review and refine these rules to ensure each CI has a unique set of identifying attributes (e.g., serial number, MAC address, or FQDN). This prevents incorrect merges and maintains data integrity without relying on manual cleanup or timeout adjustments.

Answer

Increase the reconciliation engine's timeout value.

Answer

Run the CI Class Manager to delete duplicate CIs.

Answer

Disable all identification rules and use manual reconciliation.

Question 11

An administrator needs to archive old incident records to reduce the size of the incident table. Which approach is recommended for optimal performance?

Accepted Answer

Use the 'Archive' functionality in the Application Navigator.. ServiceNow's built-in Archive functionality is the recommended approach to reduce table size. It automatically moves old records to a separate archive table, preserving referential integrity and application logic, while freeing up space in the incident table. Option A is incorrect because the 'Delete Records' module permanently removes records, not archives them. Option C is incorrect because direct database deletion bypasses ServiceNow's safeguards and can corrupt data. Option D is incorrect because manually copying and deleting records is complex, error-prone, and not scalable; the Archive feature handles this efficiently.

Answer

Use the 'Delete Records' module to remove records older than 6 months.

Answer

Delete records older than 6 months directly from the database.

Answer

Create a scheduled job to copy records to a custom table and then delete from incident table.

Question 12

A custom table 'u_custom_server' extends 'cmdb_ci_server' and has additional fields. The admin notices that while regular attribute updates on the parent table propagate correctly to the child, some custom fields are not being updated during discovery. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The identification rule does not include custom fields.. ServiceNow's CMDB identification and reconciliation framework uses identification rules to determine which fields are used to match CI records during discovery. Custom fields on a child table like 'u_custom_server' are not automatically included in the parent table's identification rule; they must be explicitly added to the identification rule for the CI class. Without this, the discovery probe may create duplicate CIs or fail to update those custom fields, as the system does not consider them part of the unique identifier or update set.

Answer

The custom fields are not defined as 'Active' in the dictionary.

Answer

The discovery probe does not have access to the custom fields.

Answer

The custom table has a stale glide record.

Question 13

A company wants to ensure that when a server CI is retired, all its associated running services are automatically updated to reflect the retirement. What is the best practice?

Accepted Answer

Use the CI Lifecycle Manager to define a retirement business rule.. The CI Lifecycle Manager provides a dedicated framework for defining lifecycle states and automating actions when a CI transitions between states, such as retirement. By configuring a retirement business rule within the CI Lifecycle Manager, you can automatically update or retire all associated running services when a server CI is retired, ensuring consistency without manual intervention.

Answer

Configure a business rule on the CI class to update related CIs on state change.

Answer

Use the Relationship Viewer to manually edit each relationship.

Answer

Create a scheduled job to check for retired CIs and update dependencies.

Question 14

An administrator needs to enforce data consistency in the CMDB. Which two methods are effective for ensuring CI data quality? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Configuring data certification policies.. Data certification policies in ServiceNow require CI owners to periodically attest to the accuracy of their CI data, ensuring accountability and ongoing data quality. CMDB Data Manager dashboards provide real-time visibility into data quality metrics, such as completeness and compliance, enabling administrators to identify and address issues proactively. Together, these methods enforce data consistency without manual CSV exports or regular CI Class Manager runs.

Answer

Exporting CMDB data to CSV for manual review.

Answer

Running the CI Class Manager regularly.

Answer

Setting up reconciliation rules.

Question 15

An administrator is troubleshooting issues with the CMDB identification and reconciliation engine. Which three components are part of the identification and reconciliation process? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Reconciliation rules. Reconciliation rules (B) are a core component of the CMDB identification and reconciliation process because they define how to handle duplicate or conflicting CIs during the reconciliation phase. These rules determine which data source takes precedence, whether to merge or overwrite attributes, and how to resolve conflicts between multiple sources. Without reconciliation rules, the system cannot maintain a single authoritative view of each CI.

Answer

Transform maps

Answer

CI Class Manager