SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Question
A large financial institution uses ServiceNow CMDB to manage their IT infrastructure. They have a complex environment with multiple data sources: Discovery, SCCM, and a custom integration from their cloud provider. The CMDB contains over 100,000 CIs. Recently, the CMDB team noticed that for a specific set of Windows servers, the 'os_version' attribute is being updated to an incorrect value every night. The value comes from the SCCM integration, which is supposed to be the authoritative source for software-related attributes. However, the 'os_version' attribute should be authoritative from Discovery. The IRE is configured with reconciliation rules, but the issue persists. The team also finds that the Discovery job for these servers runs at 2:00 AM, and the SCCM integration runs at 3:00 AM. The incorrect value appears after the SCCM run. The reconciliation rules are set so that Discovery is authoritative for 'os_version', but the SCCM integration still overwrites it. What is the most likely cause and recommended action?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume changing the order of integrations (Option C) will fix the issue, but the IRE's reconciliation rules, not the sequence of data ingestion, determine which source is authoritative for a given attribute.
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 correct the reconciliation rule to ensure Discovery is the authoritative source for 'os_version' and that the rule is active.
The reconciliation rule is the mechanism that dictates which data source is authoritative for a specific attribute. If the rule is misconfigured, inactive, or not properly scoped, the IRE will allow the SCCM integration to overwrite the 'os_version' attribute even though Discovery is intended to be authoritative. Reviewing and correcting the rule ensures that the IRE enforces the correct source priority for that attribute.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable the IRE 'Strict' mode to prevent any updates from non-authoritative sources.
Why it's wrong here
Strict mode may block all updates, which is not desired; the issue is specific to the reconciliation rule.
- ✗
Disable the SCCM integration for these servers and rely solely on Discovery.
Why it's wrong here
This would lose other updates from SCCM that are needed.
- ✗
Change the order of the integrations so that SCCM runs before Discovery.
Why it's wrong here
Order does not matter if reconciliation rules are correctly set; the authoritative source for that attribute should take precedence.
- ✓
Review and correct the reconciliation rule to ensure Discovery is the authoritative source for 'os_version' and that the rule is active.
Why this is correct
If the rule is misconfigured or inactive, SCCM may overwrite the attribute.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SNOW-CSA question from scratch — 504 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.