SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Question
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?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse symptom fixes (like increasing timeouts or deleting duplicates) with the root cause solution, which is correcting the identification rules that govern CI uniqueness.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
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 analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the reconciliation engine's timeout value.
Why it's wrong here
Timeout adjustments do not solve conflicts in identification rules.
- ✗
Run the CI Class Manager to delete duplicate CIs.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting duplicates does not prevent reoccurrence; the underlying rule issue remains.
- ✓
Review and refine the identification rules to ensure uniqueness criteria are correctly defined.
Why this is correct
This addresses the root cause by correcting the rules that cause misidentification.
- ✗
Disable all identification rules and use manual reconciliation.
Why it's wrong here
Disabled rules stop automated deduplication, leading to more duplicates and manual effort.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SNOW-CSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ServiceNow certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SNOW-CSA exam.