Practice Test Geeks(CMA) Certified Master Architect Practice Test
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Technology and Platform Analysis Flashcards

7 cards from real CMA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Technology and Platform Analysis flashcards as text

  1. A master architect is assessing a platform where the organization needs to integrate data from 50 heterogeneous source systems. Which integration pattern is most scalable for this scenario?

    Answer: Hub-and-spoke with an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

    A hub-and-spoke model with an ESB centralizes integration logic, reducing connections from O(n²) point-to-point to O(n) connections through a hub.

  2. Which cloud service model provides the highest level of abstraction, allowing developers to deploy applications without managing underlying servers, OS, or middleware?

    Answer: Platform as a Service (PaaS)

    PaaS provides a managed platform for application deployment where the provider manages infrastructure, OS, and middleware so developers focus on application code.

  3. A CMA must recommend a caching strategy for a high-traffic read-heavy platform. Which pattern stores frequently accessed data in a fast in-memory cache and falls back to the database on a cache miss?

    Answer: Cache-aside (lazy loading)

    Cache-aside (lazy loading) loads data into the cache only on demand when a cache miss occurs, keeping the cache populated with actively used data.

  4. When analyzing a platform's technology stack, which approach best assesses whether a chosen technology will still be viable in 5–10 years?

    Answer: Evaluating technology maturity using models like Gartner Hype Cycle and community health indicators

    Frameworks like the Gartner Hype Cycle combined with community health, adoption trends, and vendor roadmaps give a multi-dimensional view of long-term technology viability.

  5. In a distributed system, the CAP theorem states that during a network partition, a system must choose between which two properties?

    Answer: Consistency and Availability

    The CAP theorem states that during a network partition, a distributed system can guarantee either Consistency or Availability, but not both simultaneously.

  6. A master architect is reviewing a platform that uses synchronous REST calls between 15 microservices. What is the primary risk of this approach at scale?

    Answer: Cascading failures where one slow service degrades all dependent services

    Synchronous REST chains create cascading failure risks because a slow or unavailable downstream service can block and degrade all upstream callers.

  7. Which security principle in platform architecture states that each component or user should have only the minimum access rights necessary to perform its function?

    Answer: Principle of least privilege

    The principle of least privilege limits access rights for users, accounts, and processes to only those strictly required for their intended function.