CMA Data Architecture & Management 3

Question 1

What is the 'schema-on-read' approach in data architecture?

Accepted Answer

Applying the schema when data is read or queried rather than when it is stored

Answer

Defining the data schema strictly before data is ingested into the system

Answer

Automatically generating database schemas from application domain models

Answer

Validating data against a schema during the ETL transformation stage

Question 2

In dimensional data warehouse modeling, what is a 'fact table'?

Accepted Answer

A central table storing measurable, quantitative business events with foreign keys to dimension tables

Answer

A table storing descriptive attributes about business entities such as customers and products

Answer

A lookup table mapping business codes to their descriptions

Answer

A table storing aggregated summary data pre-computed for faster reporting

Question 3

What is the role of the 'transformation' stage in an ETL pipeline?

Accepted Answer

Converting, cleansing, and restructuring data to meet target system requirements

Answer

Moving raw data from source systems into staging areas for processing

Answer

Loading processed data into the final destination data warehouse or database

Answer

Monitoring source system connectivity and alerting on extraction failures

Question 4

In a polyglot persistence architecture, what guides the selection of different database technologies for different services?

Accepted Answer

Choosing the best-fit database type for each service based on its specific workload and access pattern

Answer

Using only relational databases for all services to maintain operational consistency

Answer

Standardizing on NoSQL databases enterprise-wide to eliminate relational schema management

Answer

Selecting databases based on licensing cost rather than technical suitability

Question 5

What is the primary responsibility of a data steward role in enterprise data architecture?

Accepted Answer

Owning and ensuring data quality and governance compliance for a specific business domain

Answer

Developing and maintaining ETL pipelines and data integration code

Answer

Managing the physical infrastructure and servers hosting enterprise databases

Answer

Auditing financial records to ensure regulatory and accounting compliance

Question 6

Which architectural pattern separates read and write models to optimize each for its specific performance and scalability characteristics?

Accepted Answer

CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)

Answer

Event sourcing

Answer

Saga pattern

Answer

Repository pattern

Question 7

What does 'data democratization' mean in an enterprise architecture context?

Accepted Answer

Making data accessible and usable by all employees regardless of their technical skill level

Answer

Restricting data access exclusively to elected data stewards and governance committees

Answer

Distributing database servers across geographically dispersed data centers

Answer

Using voting mechanisms to prioritize which data assets are collected and stored