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Exam Information
Official specifications published by Dell
Exam Format
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Skills this practice test covers
- Compare PowerMax models, hardware components and racking options for a customer design.
- Check a PowerSizer output summary against the manufacturing bin file.
- Plan a supported PowerMax upgrade and choose a migration method such as NDM.
- Protect data locally with TimeFinder SnapVX snapshots and remotely with an SRDF topology.
- Use Unisphere for PowerMax for workload planning, headroom checks and monitoring.
- Install Solutions Enabler and manage PowerMax File clones and snapshots.
Explore related topics
D-PVM-DS-01 exam content
7 domains · 22 topics · 225 questions
PowerMax Family Features15%36 questions
Every PowerMax design starts from product knowledge. Candidates compare models, features and offerings, describe what each hardware component does, and pick configuration and racking options for a site.
Skills tested
- Compare PowerMax models, features and offerings, such as the PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500.
- Describe what directors, cache and drives do inside a PowerMax system.
- Choose system configuration and racking options for a customer site.
- Access PowerMax and PowerMaxOS 10 systems through their management interfaces.
Questions by topic
- Hardware Components Functionality9
- Compare PowerMax Models10
- System Configuration and Racking Options10
- Access PowerMax and PowerMaxOS 10 systems7
PowerMax Design Resources and Environment15%28 questions
PowerMax designs are built in Dell's own tools. This domain covers the Dell sites used for Solutions Design, My Work operations, and checking a PowerSizer output summary against the manufacturing bin file.
Skills tested
- Identify the Dell sites used for Solutions Design.
- Perform My Work operations, such as saving and validating a configuration.
- Compare a PowerSizer output summary with the manufacturing bin file and explain any gap.
Questions by topic
- PowerSizer Analysis18
- My Work Operations10
PowerMax Upgrades and Migrations17%38 questions
Installed arrays grow, and older arrays move their data to new ones. This domain covers supported upgrades, the rules that limit them, the hardware and software upgrade process and the migration environment.
Skills tested
- Identify which upgrades a given PowerMax system supports.
- Outline the rules and constraints that apply to PowerMax upgrades.
- Explain the hardware and software upgrade process and classify the configuration changes it needs.
- Explain the migration environment and when NDM or O-MDM fits a move.
Questions by topic
- Migration Environment15
- Hardware and Software Upgrade Process9
- Configuration Changes for Upgrades7
- Upgrade Rules and Constraints7
PowerMax Local and Remote Replication19%36 questions
The largest domain covers business continuity. Candidates explain TimeFinder SnapVX for local copies, choose SRDF topologies for remote copies, and run SRDF operations from Unisphere for PowerMax.
Skills tested
- Explain how TimeFinder SnapVX takes snapshots and links them to target volumes.
- Identify SRDF topologies such as SRDF/S, SRDF/A, SRDF/Metro, cascaded and concurrent SRDF.
- Match an SRDF design to a disaster recovery or data mobility requirement.
- Perform SRDF operations, such as failover and failback, in Unisphere for PowerMax.
Questions by topic
- SRDF Topologies11
- TimeFinder SnapVX Concepts16
- SRDF Concepts and Use Cases9
Unisphere for PowerMax12%34 questions
Unisphere for PowerMax is the main management interface for the array. This domain covers its architecture, features and deployment options, workload planning, the Data Exclusion and Headroom features, and monitoring of virtual environments.
Skills tested
- Choose between embedded, standalone and virtual appliance deployments of Unisphere.
- Perform workload planning activities to forecast capacity and performance needs.
- Interpret Data Exclusion and Headroom results before placing a new workload.
- Monitor virtual environments using Unisphere for PowerMax.
Questions by topic
- Deployment Options9
- Virtual Environment Monitoring8
- Workload Planning Activities8
- Unisphere Architecture and Features9
Solutions Enabler Implementation7%20 questions
Solutions Enabler gives hosts the SYMCLI command line for managing PowerMax. This smallest domain covers its concepts, installing and upgrading it on Unix, Linux and Windows hosts, and the daemons it runs.
Skills tested
- Describe Solutions Enabler concepts and the SYMCLI command structure.
- Install and upgrade Solutions Enabler on Unix, Linux and Windows hosts.
- Describe what common Solutions Enabler daemons do and which platforms support them.
Questions by topic
- Daemons and Platform Support11
- Installation and Upgrade9
PowerMax File15%33 questions
PowerMax File adds file storage to the array. Candidates describe eNAS and SDNAS, explain file replication and how to manage it, and run file system clone and snapshot operations.
Skills tested
- Describe PowerMax File concepts and how eNAS and SDNAS differ.
- Explain File replication and the methods used to manage it.
- Perform file system clone operations and refresh a clone.
- Create file system snapshots and restore data from them.
Questions by topic
- File System Clone Operations13
- File Concepts - eNAS and SDNAS10
- File Replication10
Requirements
- No formal prerequisites: no other certification is needed first.
- Recommended: hands-on PowerMax experience, Dell's recommended training, or both.
- Recommended: knowledge of enterprise storage design and of Dell storage management tools.
About the D-PVM-DS-01 exam
The D-PVM-DS-01 exam checks whether a storage professional can position and design Dell PowerMax Family solutions. It covers models and hardware, Dell's design tools, upgrades and migrations, SnapVX and SRDF replication, Unisphere for PowerMax, Solutions Enabler and PowerMax File. Dell intends it for its own staff and its partners. Passing earns the PowerMax Design V2 skills certification in the Dell Technologies Proven Professional program.
The PlanetCert practice test covers all seven domains and has the most questions on upgrades and migrations. PowerSizer analysis and SnapVX concepts also get large sets of questions. The explanations help where two options look close, such as NDM and O-MDM, or cascaded and concurrent SRDF. Study Mode suits the Solutions Enabler daemons and the upgrade rules, where small details decide the answer. Brainy AI Assistant can explain how a SnapVX snapshot is linked to a target volume, or compare eNAS with SDNAS.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Dell Technologies Proven Professional PowerMax Design V2Skills Certification
How to prepare for D-PVM-DS-01
- 1
Start with the solutions design course
Dell's recommended training is a set of on-demand courses. Take PowerMax Family Solutions Design first, then the hardware, replication, Unisphere and file courses.
- 2
Size a design in PowerSizer
Run a sizing, read the output summary, and compare it item by item with a manufacturing bin file. The design resources domain asks for exactly this check.
- 3
Sketch every SRDF topology
Replication is the largest domain. Draw SRDF/S, SRDF/A, SRDF/Metro, cascaded and concurrent SRDF with their sites and links. Then add SnapVX linking and restore to the same notes.
- 4
Walk one upgrade end to end
List the supported upgrades for a system, the rules that limit them and the configuration changes each one needs. Then decide whether NDM or O-MDM would move the customer's data.
- 5
Check pace across seven domains
Take the D-PVM-DS-01 practice test in Timed Mode once the courses are done. Reread each missed explanation, and ask Brainy AI Assistant to compare the options that looked alike.
Start a timed D-PVM-DS-01run
Dell recommends on-demand courses that include PowerMax Family Solutions Design, PowerMaxOS 10 Hardware Concepts, Unisphere for PowerMax 10 Implementation and Solutions Enabler 10 Implementation. Replication, NDM and O-MDM migration, eNAS and SDNAS each have courses of their own.
Who D-PVM-DS-01 is for
- Solution architects at Dell who size and design PowerMax Family arrays.
- Partner pre-sales consultants and systems engineers who put PowerMax into customer proposals.
- Storage professionals who already run PowerMax and now take on design work.
Typical job titles: Storage architect · Solutions designer · Pre-sales systems engineer · Pre-sales consultant · Storage consultant
D-PVM-DS-01 glossary
18 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- Cascaded SRDF
- An SRDF topology that copies data from a first site to a second site, and from there on to a third.
- Concurrent SRDF
- An SRDF topology in which one source device replicates to two remote arrays at the same time.
- Embedded NAS (eNAS)
- File services that run inside a PowerMax array, so that it can share file systems without a separate NAS device.
- Headroom
- A Unisphere for PowerMax measure of how much more workload a system can take before it reaches its limits.
- Linking and unlinking
- SnapVX steps that present a snapshot's data on a target volume for hosts to use, and later end that connection.
- Manufacturing bin file
- The configuration file used to build a PowerMax system at the factory, which designers check against the PowerSizer output summary.
- Non-Disruptive Migration (NDM)
- A method that moves host data from an older array to a PowerMax array while the applications keep running.
- Open-Minimally Disruptive Migration (O-MDM)
- A migration method for open systems hosts that needs only a short application outage.
- PowerMaxOS 10
- The operating system of the PowerMax 2500 and PowerMax 8500 arrays.
- PowerSizer
- Dell's sizing tool, which models the capacity and performance a customer needs and produces an output summary.
- RDF groups
- The defined SRDF connections between two arrays, used by the device pairs that replicate across them.
- Software-Defined NAS (SDNAS)
- The file service that runs as software on PowerMaxOS 10 arrays and provides PowerMax File.
- Solutions Enabler
- Dell's host software for managing PowerMax arrays, which includes the SYMCLI command line.
- SRDF
- PowerMax's remote replication feature, which copies data from one array to another array, usually at a second site.
- SRDF/Metro
- An SRDF mode in which both arrays present the same device to hosts, so applications can read and write at both sites.
- SYMCLI
- The Solutions Enabler command line interface, used to run and script PowerMax tasks from a host.
- TimeFinder SnapVX
- PowerMax's local replication feature, which takes space-efficient snapshots of source volumes inside the same array.
- Unisphere for PowerMax
- Dell's management software for PowerMax, used for configuration, replication, monitoring and workload planning.