Big Data Architect Flashcards

In IBM BigInsights, which component provides a SQL-like interface for querying large datasets stored in HDFS?

Answer: IBM BigSQL

IBM BigSQL is a massively parallel processing SQL engine that allows querying data in HDFS using standard SQL syntax.

Which IBM tool is specifically designed for real-time streaming analytics processing continuous data flows?

Answer: IBM Streams

IBM Streams is the platform purpose-built for processing and analyzing continuous streams of data in real time.

When designing a Lambda architecture on IBM Cloud, which layer handles both speed and batch processing results for query serving?

Answer: Serving layer

The serving layer in Lambda architecture merges batch views and real-time views to answer low-latency queries.

Which IBM product provides governed data lake capabilities with integrated data catalog and lineage tracking?

Answer: IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog

IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog provides metadata management, data lineage, and governance policies for enterprise data lakes.

In a Hadoop cluster managed by IBM, what is the primary role of YARN?

Answer: Managing cluster resources and scheduling jobs

YARN (Yet Another Resource Negotiator) is responsible for resource management and job scheduling across the Hadoop cluster.

Which data serialization format is preferred in IBM big data pipelines for schema evolution support with compact binary encoding?

Answer: Apache Avro

Apache Avro supports schema evolution and uses a compact binary format, making it ideal for Hadoop-based big data pipelines.

A Big Data Architect must choose between vertical and horizontal scaling for an IBM data warehouse. What is the primary advantage of horizontal scaling?

Answer: Ability to add commodity nodes without downtime constraints

Horizontal scaling allows adding more commodity nodes to distribute load, providing near-linear scalability without expensive hardware upgrades.