SNOW-CSA Database Administration and CMDB Practice Question
An organization uses ServiceNow Discovery to populate the CMDB. They notice that some CIs are missing required relationships after discovery. What is the most likely reason?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse the IRE's role (which handles CI creation and reconciliation) with the role of Discovery probes/sensors (which handle relationship creation), leading them to incorrectly select Option C.
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
✓
The discovery probes and sensors are not configured to create relationships.
Discovery probes and sensors are responsible for collecting data from devices, but they do not automatically create relationships unless specifically configured to do so. If the probes and sensors lack the necessary configuration to identify and record relationships, the discovered CIs will remain isolated in the CMDB. This is the most common cause of missing relationships after a Discovery run.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The discovered CIs are in different classes that do not have relationship rules.
Why it's wrong here
Relationships are generally cross-class and defined by the probes, not class rules.
- ✓
The discovery probes and sensors are not configured to create relationships.
Why this is correct
Probes and sensors must be designed to identify and create relationships during discovery.
- ✗
The IRE is set to 'reconcile only' and not 'create'.
Why it's wrong here
IRE reconcile only would still update relationships, not prevent creation.
- ✗
The relationship type is not defined in the CMDB.
Why it's wrong here
If the relationship type is missing, discovery would still create it using a default type or fail, but this is less common.
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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.