PSC Virtualization & Container Integration 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What vSphere primitive enables Pure Storage FlashArray to perform array-side copy operations without consuming ESXi host CPU resources?
- VAAI XCOPY (Full Copy) offload (Correct answer)
- vMotion live migration
- vSphere Replication delta sync
- DRS cluster load balancing
Correct answer: VAAI XCOPY (Full Copy) offload
VAAI's XCOPY primitive offloads block-copy operations entirely to the FlashArray, freeing ESXi CPU and reducing network I/O during cloning and migration tasks.
Question 2: What does enabling Virtual Volumes (VVols) in a Pure Storage and VMware environment allow that traditional VMFS datastores do not?
- Per-VM storage policy enforcement and granular snapshot management at the individual VM object level (Correct answer)
- Increased raw throughput by bypassing the VMFS filesystem layer entirely
- Automatic live migration of VMs between datastores during peak load
- Shared read-write access to the same volume from multiple ESXi hosts simultaneously
Correct answer: Per-VM storage policy enforcement and granular snapshot management at the individual VM object level
VVols map each VM component (vmdk, swap, config) to a native array object, enabling Storage Policy-Based Management (SPBM) with per-VM QoS, snapshots, and replication policies.
Question 3: Which Pure Storage component must be installed in VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) to enable array-based replication and automated failover orchestration?
- Pure Storage Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) (Correct answer)
- Pure Storage vCenter Server Plugin
- Pure Storage Management Pack for vROps
- Pure Storage VASA Provider
Correct answer: Pure Storage Storage Replication Adapter (SRA)
The Pure Storage SRA integrates with VMware SRM to enable non-disruptive failover testing and automated recovery plans using FlashArray replication.
Question 4: What is the role of the Pure Storage VASA (vSphere APIs for Storage Awareness) Provider in a VMware environment?
- It communicates FlashArray capabilities and storage profiles to vCenter for VVol and SPBM support (Correct answer)
- It offloads snapshot creation from the ESXi kernel to the array hardware
- It provides real-time I/O performance metrics to vRealize Operations
- It enables live deduplication ratio reporting inside the vSphere client UI
Correct answer: It communicates FlashArray capabilities and storage profiles to vCenter for VVol and SPBM support
The VASA Provider tells vCenter about the array's capabilities (protocols, replication, QoS) so administrators can create and assign VM storage policies through SPBM.
Question 5: Which connectivity protocols does Pure Storage FlashArray support for VMware ESXi host access?
- Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, and NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) (Correct answer)
- iSCSI and SMB 3.0 only
- NFS v4.1 and Fibre Channel only
- FCoE and CIFS only
Correct answer: Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, and NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF)
FlashArray supports FC, iSCSI, and NVMe-oF (NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP) for block storage connectivity to VMware ESXi hosts, providing flexibility across data center environments.
Question 6: What does the Pure Storage Management Pack for VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) primarily provide?
- FlashArray performance metrics, capacity analytics, and storage health dashboards integrated into the vROps console (Correct answer)
- Automated VM provisioning directly from FlashArray snapshots inside vROps
- A replacement for the Pure1 cloud management portal within on-premises vROps
- Automatic QoS policy enforcement based on vROps workload stress alerts
Correct answer: FlashArray performance metrics, capacity analytics, and storage health dashboards integrated into the vROps console
The Pure Storage Management Pack feeds FlashArray I/O metrics, latency, capacity, and health data into vROps dashboards, enabling correlated VM-to-storage troubleshooting.
Question 7: When using Pure Storage VVols with VMware, what is a Protocol Endpoint (PE)?
- A single access point on the FlashArray through which the ESXi host communicates with all VVol objects (Correct answer)
- A dedicated iSCSI port reserved exclusively for VVol replication traffic
- A virtual adapter created on the ESXi host to handle VVol metadata requests
- A snapshot container that holds point-in-time copies of VVol data objects
Correct answer: A single access point on the FlashArray through which the ESXi host communicates with all VVol objects
Protocol Endpoints serve as I/O proxies on the FlashArray; ESXi hosts connect through PEs to reach individual VVol objects without requiring a separate LUN per VM.
PSC Virtualization & Container Integration 1
What vSphere primitive enables Pure Storage FlashArray to perform array-side copy operations without consuming ESXi host CPU resources?