Exam Objectives and Commonly Referenced Documentation for Migration Specialist Certification

Certifications
Audience
Public
Product
FlashBlade
FlashArray
FlashStack
Evergreen
Pure1
Portworx
Source Type
Documentation

The following tables list the Migration Specialist exam objectives and how these objectives align to the corresponding commonly referenced product documentation and resources. Candidates are encouraged to review the applicable topics as part of their preparation for the exam.

Note: For Knowledge Portal documents, be sure to reference all subtopics, PDFs, and/or links that are part of the document link provided.
Note: This exam includes questions that assess knowledge of third-party migration tools. Some reference materials reside on external vendor websites and could require an account to access.

Exam Domain 1: Migration Concepts (Weightage 33%)

Exam Objectives

Applicable Documentation and Resources

1.01 - Block

Objective Subtopics:

  • Analyze key concepts of block storage and provisioning across platforms such as Windows, Unix, SAN, and PSC Dedicated, including iSCSI and Fibre Channel (FC)

  1. ActiveCluster Solution Overview

  2. ActiveDR FAQ

  3. AIX Recommended Settings

  4. CirrusData Local Migration of Microsoft Windows

  5. Cloning Oracle Database with FlashArray Snapshots Oracle RAC

  6. Data Migration: The Road to Simplification

  7. Data mirroring

  8. FlashStack Boot From SAN - Fibre Channel

  9. Host Connectivity

  10. How to Combine Two Logical Volumes on a Single Physical Volume With LVM

  11. How to mount ufs file system under Debian testing?

  12. Oracle Database Recommended Settings for FlashArray

  13. Recommendations Common to ASM and File System

  14. Solaris Recommended Settings

1.02 - File (NAS)

Objective Subtopics:

  • Evaluate NAS/File storage security models, including permission structures

  • Differentiate between file access protocols (SMB vs. NFS)

  1. Active Directory / LDAP Integration for FlashBlade

  2. Active Directory privileged accounts and groups reference guide

  3. FlashArray File - Requirements and Best Practices

  4. FlashBlade Multi-Tenancy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

  5. FlashBlade NFS FAQ

  6. FlashBlade Service Guide

  7. FlashBlade User Guide Version 4.5.6 (See Ch. 8 The Purity//FB GUI Policies Page)

  8. How to Join FlashBlade to Active Directory in Native SMB

  9. Introduction to the Parsec Appliance

  10. Purity//FB 4.5 NFS Export Policies Best Practices

  11. Purity//FB 4.5 Security Best Practices

  12. RapidFile Toolkit v2.1 for FlashBlade

  13. Red Hat Access Control Lists

  14. Red Hat Managing Users and Groups

  15. robocopy

  16. rsync

1.03 - Object

Objective Subtopics:

  • Interpret S3 protocol operations, including authentication mechanisms and object access controls

  1. FlashBlade Best Practices for Object Storage

  2. FlashBlade Object Replication FAQ

  3. FlashBlade Object Storage Quick Start Guide

  4. FlashBlade Object Store: AWS Compatibility

  5. Virtual hosting of general purpose buckets

1.04 - Virtualization

Objective Subtopics:

  • Assess virtual infrastructure platforms (VMware, KVM, Hyper-V) and their integration with Pure environments

  1. Cluster to Cluster Storage Replication

  2. FlashArray and VMware Integration

  3. Migrating boot from SAN hosts

  4. Migration from SCSI to NVMe-TCP

  5. NVMe/TCP Best Practices

  6. Storage Replica overview

  7. VMware Multipathing policies in ESXi/ESX

  8. VMware Native Multipathing Plugin (NMP) Configuration

Exam Domain 2: Troubleshooting (Weightage: 23%)

Exam Objectives

Applicable Documentation and Resources

2.01 - Block

Objective Subtopics:

  • Diagnose and resolve block storage issues related to connectivity (cabling, zoning), multipathing, host/server configuration, performance, and data integrity

  1. Installing the Pure ODM File

  2. Multi-path IO

  3. Oracle Database Recommended Settings for FlashArray

  4. Recommended DM-Multipath Settings

  5. SAN Design and Best Practices Brocade Fibre Channel Platforms Design Guide

  6. Setting the MPIO Policy

  7. VMware Native Multipathing Plugin (NMP) Configuration

  8. Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS SAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 10.6(x)

  9. Troubleshoot Fiber Links on Catalyst 9000 Series Switches

2.02 - File (NAS)

Objective Subtopics:

  • Identify and resolve issues in NAS environments related to permissions, authentication, configuration, data integrity, multi-protocol access, and networking

  1. A Data Migration Mystery Solved – Can an Active Directory Object Have Two Security Identifiers?

  2. AD FS troubleshooting: Integrated Windows Authentication

  3. Can't access shared folders from File Explorer in Windows 10

  4. Connecting to FlashBlade Object Store from an S3 Client

  5. Cross-Protocol File Access on FlashBlade

  6. FlashBlade CLI Reference 4.5.6 (See Ch. 4 pureconfig)

  7. SMB (Samba) FAQ

  8. SMB file server share access is unsuccessful through DNS CNAME alias

  9. What is the history of tiered storage?

2.03 - Object

Objective Subtopics:

  • Troubleshoot object storage by diagnosing issues related to S3 account keys, bucket versioning, and replication configurations

  1. CloudSnap User Guide

  2. Configuring Versioning on a Flashblade S3 Bucket

  3. Enabling Bucket Versioning

  4. FlashBlade Administration Guide 4.6.3

  5. FlashBlade Object Replication FAQ

  6. FlashBlade Object Storage Quick Start Guide

  7. Manage Object Retention with Object Life Cycle Policies

2.04 - Virtualization

Objective Subtopics:

  • Troubleshoot virtual machine migration errors

  • Troubleshoot access to virtual center

  1. Capture System Performance Data with esxtop

  2. VMware Host NVMe Ethernet Guide

  3. ESXTOP overview for Performance Troubleshooting

  4. iSCSI Best Practices

  5. iSCSI Configuration

  6. Managing iSCSI Session on ESXi Host

  7. Multipath Configuration

  8. Understanding the state of your Cluster Shared Volumes

Exam Domain 3: Network and Connectivity (Weightage: 15%)

Exam Objectives

Applicable Documentation and Resources

3.01 - SAN Fabric

Objective Subtopics:

  • Differentiate VSAN (Virtual Fabric) and zoning concepts in SAN environments

  • Compare zoning implementations between Cisco and Brocade fabrics

  • Analyze the impact of slow drain devices, QoS settings, buffer credits, and redundant fabrics on SAN performance and availability

  • Evaluate how SAN fabric components interact within an end-to-end architecture

  • Identify key hardware and logical components within SAN fabrics

  • Interpret the purpose and use of NPIV (N_Port ID Virtualization) in SAN environments

  1. Cirrus Data CMO Path Insertion Diagnostic Guide

  2. Cisco MDS SAN Zoning Best Practices

  3. File Channel Buffer Credits and Frame Management White Paper

  4. FlashArray Connectivity Reference

  5. How To Identify And Troubleshoot Slow Drain Device In Cisco SAN Environment

  6. Limitations and Restrictions of Virtual Fabrics

3.02 - Authentication and Authorization

Objective Subtopics:

  • Evaluate directory services and protocol-level permissions, including LDAP, Active Directory (Kerberos), SMB, and NFS

  1. Cross-Protocol File Access on FlashBlade

  2. Setting Up File Services on FlashArray

  3. SMB Adapter (Samba) to Native SMB FAQ

3.03 - IP Network

Objective Subtopics:

  • Analyze IP networking principles as applied to FlashBlade and FlashArray, including iSCSI connectivity and common network troubleshooting tools

  1. Does iSCSI initiator and target HAVE to be on the same subnet?

  2. FlashBlade Best Practices for Networking

  3. FlashBlade Best Practices For NFS Nconnect

  4. FlashBlade NFS Performance FAQ

  5. Setting up MPIO using the Control Panel Applet

  6. What Is MTU Size and How Do You Calculate It?

Exam Domain 4: Virtualization (Weightage: 13%)

Exam Objectives

Applicable Documentation and Resources

4.01 - Migration strategies

Objective Subtopics:

  • Evaluate migration options for virtual environments, including compute vMotion, storage vMotion, and converting physical RDMs to virtual RDMs

  • Migrate virtual machines across hypervisor platforms

  • Use KubeVirt to port virtual machines into containers

  1. Converting a Raw Device Mapping (RDM) into virtual disk (VMDK).

  2. Data Migration Strategy Guide

  3. Limits on Simultaneous Migrations

  4. Storage-based Replication

  5. User Guides for VMware Solutions

  6. VMware Storage vMotion fails on virtual disks configured as independent non-persistent disk mode.

4.02 - Configuration

Objective Subtopics:

  • Configure Pure VM provisioning and apply best practices for integration

  • Set up vMotion and Everpure plugins

  • Configure cross-vCenter environments

  1. Datastore Management

  2. FlashArray Best Practices for Networking

  3. Installing the vSphere Plugin with the Everpure VMware Appliance

  4. iSCSI FAQ

  5. Manage FlashArray Direct Access Shared Block Device (RWX Block) for KubeVirt VMs

  6. Multi-Writer

  7. OVA Collector Creation, Deployment, and Configuration

  8. vCenter Server and Host Management

  9. VMFS Version Recommendations

  10. VMware Native Multipathing Plugin (NMP) Configuration

Exam Domain 5: Methodology (Weightage: 15%)

Exam Objectives

Applicable Documentation and Resources

5.01 - Discovery and Analysis

Objective Subtopics:

  • Use Pure1 to gather and analyze environment data

  • Perform SAN fabric discovery for Cisco and Brocade environment

  • Identify host systems across multiple operating systems

  • Discover and assess existing storage systems from various vendors

  1. Data Migration Strategy Guide

  2. Data Migration: Preparing for a Large Migration

  3. getfacl — Display owner, group, and access control list (ACL) entries

  4. Hard links and soft links in Linux explained

  5. Pure Migration Methodology (PMM) Guide

  6. Pre-Sales Customer Engagement for Migration Architects

5.02 - Plan and Design

Objective Subtopics:

  • Present the migration process clearly to the customer

  • Communicate the implementation plan to the customer

  • Define migration groups and schedules for customer alignment

  • Evaluate infrastructure, authentication, and data migration methods during planning

  1. Altering Disk Groups

  2. CirrusData Migrate Cloud Oskernel Requirements

  3. Connectrix B-Series, MDS-Series: Check Link Connectivity between Host and Storage on SAN Switches

  4. Data Migration Strategy Guide

  5. Optimizing AI and HPC Workloads with Parallel NFS 4.2: A Practical Overview

  6. Part 1: Streamline Your Cloud Data Migration with Everpure Cloud and Cirrus Migrate

  7. QoS

  8. Types of Data Migration

  9. Wave planning overview in Azure Migrate (preview)

5.03 - Prepare and Execute

Objective Subtopics:

  • Install and configure tools required for migration execution

  • Conduct a pilot migration to validate the proposed plan

  • Implement configuration on the target array in preparation for migration

  1. CirrusData Device Discovery

  2. CirrusData DMS Migration for AIX

  3. Host Group

  4. Pure Migration Methodology (PMM) Guide

  5. Purity//FA 6.8.8 FlashArray Administration Guide (GUI) (See Ch. 2 FlashArray Concepts and Features)

  6. Purity//FA FlashArray User Guide 6.7.5