SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Question
This SNOW-CSA practice question tests your understanding of database administration and cmdb. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
After upgrading to a new version, a CMDB administrator notices that many CI records have been flagged as 'unverified' and their operational status changed. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
A scheduled job from the Discovery application marked CIs as unverified.
After a version upgrade, the Discovery application's scheduled jobs (e.g., 'Discovery Status Update' or 'Operational Status Update') automatically flag CIs as 'unverified' and reset their operational status to 'In Use' or 'Unverified' to force re-validation. This is a built-in safety mechanism to ensure that CIs discovered under the old version's logic are re-assessed under the new version's rules, preventing stale or incorrectly reconciled data from persisting.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
A scheduled job from the Discovery application marked CIs as unverified.
Why this is correct
Discovery can flag CIs as unverified if it fails to identify them.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The IRE was reconfigured during upgrade.
Why it's wrong here
IRE reconfiguration is intentional, not typically a side effect.
✗
The CMDB Data Manager job ran with incorrect parameters.
Why it's wrong here
Data Manager is for imports, not for changing verification status.
✗
The identification and reconciliation rules were updated.
Why it's wrong here
Rule updates are deliberate, not a common cause.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume the IRE or CMDB Data Manager is responsible for status changes, when in fact the Discovery application's post-upgrade scheduled job is the specific mechanism that resets verification and operational status to force re-validation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Discovery application uses a scheduled job named 'Discovery Status Update' (sys_id of the job can be found in the 'sysauto' table) that runs after an upgrade. This job iterates over all CIs with a 'discovered' source and sets their 'Operational Status' to 'Unverified' (value 1) and 'Verification Status' to 'Unverified' (value 'unverified'). This forces the next Discovery cycle to re-identify and re-validate each CI, ensuring that any changes in the CMDB's identification rules or reconciliation logic from the upgrade are applied. In real-world scenarios, this can cause temporary alerts in monitoring tools that rely on operational status, so administrators often run a targeted Discovery sweep immediately after upgrade to quickly re-verify critical CIs.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the SNOW-CSA exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Database Administration and CMDB — This question tests Database Administration and CMDB — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: A scheduled job from the Discovery application marked CIs as unverified. — After a version upgrade, the Discovery application's scheduled jobs (e.g., 'Discovery Status Update' or 'Operational Status Update') automatically flag CIs as 'unverified' and reset their operational status to 'In Use' or 'Unverified' to force re-validation. This is a built-in safety mechanism to ensure that CIs discovered under the old version's logic are re-assessed under the new version's rules, preventing stale or incorrectly reconciled data from persisting.
What should I do if I get this SNOW-CSA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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