ITIL 4 Foundation Practice Exam

Our ITIL Foundation practice exam series included questions and answers based on ITIL V4 Foundation Preparation. Prepare for your upcoming exam with full confidence and pass the first attempt 1) Which dimension focusses on the organization's relationships with other organizations that are involved in the design, development, deployment, delivery, support and/or continual improvement of services? a) Partners and Suppliers b) Organization and customers b) Cat and Jack d) Roles and Releases Answer : a 2) What should every service level agreement contain? a) System response time metrics b) Clearly defined service outcomes c) Number of emails to be sent per hour rate d) 100% system uptime Answer : b 3) What are all the mandate items to be included in SLA? a) Operational metrics b) Defined outcomes c) Both operational metrics and defined outcomes d) System response time Answer : b 4) In the service level management practice which activity supports planning of product and service portfolio and service offerings with information about the actual service performance and trends? a) Execution activity b) Design activity c) Plan activity d) Do activity Answer : c 5) What is the contribution of service level management to plan value chain activity? a) This plan provides information about the actual service performance and trends b) This plan collects customer and user feedback c) This plan markets products to potential customers d) This plan maintains uptime to 99.99% Answer : a 6) Which is used to measure the performance of services from a customer's point of view? a) Plan agreement b) Service agreement c) Service level agreement d) Execution Plan Answer : c 7) Which measures the availability and capability from customer's point of view? a) Performance Metrics b) Manager Plan c) Service Standards d) Service Level agreement Answer : d 8) What is the main use of service level agreement? a) Measure the performance of services from managers point of view b) Measure the performance of services from customer's point of view d) Measure performance of servers from IT point of view d) Measure quality of product Answer : b 9) What are all the key focus of the partners and suppliers dimension? Choose all that apply a) Roles and responsibilities b) Contracts and agreements c) Security and compliance d) Inventory and supply chain Answer : a,b,c 10) Which dimension incorporates contracts and other agreements between the organizations and its partners or suppliers? a) Partners and Suppliers b) Workflow and inventory c) Compliance and standards d) Roles and Revolution Answer : a 11) What is a good service desk practice? a) Practical understanding of the wider organization, the business processes, and the users b) Practical understanding of the wider organization, the business processes c) Practical understanding of the wider organization d) None of the above Answer : a 12) Which department should have a practical understanding of the business practices across the organization? a) Help Desk b) Service Desk c) Customer Service d) Customer support Answer : b 13) Which activity includes the analysis of data to identify opportunities to provide new service request options? a) Service activity b) Support activity c) Improve activity d) Important activity Answer : c 14) Which is the operating model that outlines the key activities required to respond todemand and facilitate realization of value through the design, development and managementof services and products? a) Continuous process improvement b) Service value chain c) service management plan d) continuous lifecycle Answer : b 15) What is the value chain activity output that includes portfolio decisions for design and transition? a) Service value chain b) Plan c) Dasign d) Development Answer : b 16) Which value chain activity is used to create a shared understanding of the vision, current status, improvement direction for all four dimensions and all products and services across the organization? a) Design b) Development c) Plan d) Execution Answer : c 17) What does a organization and people dimension of a service cover? a) Formal organizational structures b) service organizations c) call center support d) Customer support Answer : a 18) Which serve as the means of enabling value co-creation by facilitating outcomes that customers want to achieve without the customer having to manage specific costs and risks? a) Service b) Customer support c) Value chain d) Logistics Answer : a 19) What does change control practice ensure and take care of? a) Properly assessing risks b) Authorizing changes to proceed c) Managing a change schedule to maximize successful IT changes d) All of the above Answer : d 20) What is a change of state that has a significance for management of a service or other configuration items? a) Event b) Service c) Operating model d) Value chain Answer : a 21) What is the functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need? a) Utility b) Service c) Customer Service d) Value chain Answer : a 22) What is a utility? a) It is a functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need b) It is a service c) It is a customer service for a product d) All of the above Answer : a 23) What is the practice of protecting an organization by understanding and managing risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information? a) Information Technology b) Information security management c) Information portal d) Information product Answer : b 24) What is the practice of minimizing the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service operation as quickly as possible? a) Incident management b) Customer Management c) Process management d) Product management Answer : a 25) Is an output tangible deliverable or an intangible deliverable? a) Tangible deliverable b) Intangible deliverable c) Can be tangible or intangible deliverable d) None of the above Answer : c

Mongodb production database Linux deployment Best Recommendations

MongoDB can be deployed in a variety of paltforms including 32-bit windows 7, 64-bit windows 7, Mac OS, Linux, Soalris etc. Lets take a quick look at the best recommendaitons to be followed while deploying mongoDB production instances in Linux environment 1) Always run mongoDB in 64-bit environment 2) Linux kernel version 2.6.36 or later must be used Simple command to find kernel version in Linux are 2.1) Use the uname command uname -r 2.2) Access /proc/version files cat /proc/version 2.3) Using Red Hat Package Manager command with -q option rpm -q kernel 2.4) Look at dmesg command dmesg |grep Linux 2.5) Look at book folder ls /boot 3) Filesystem recommendation on MongoDB - As with RDBMS like Oracle, MongoDB preallocates the database files. MongoDB supports big data and often the files are large files. Filesystems like Ext4 and XFS can be used. Also, the filesystem should support fsync() on directories 4) We need to turn off accesstime aka atime in the storage volumes [disk drives] containing database files of MongoDB. atime is the file access time that is updated whenever a file is accessed including opening of files, operations like grep, sort, cat, head, tail and so on. As such this recommendaiton is to improve the speed of disk drives in Linux environment. Edit /etc/fstab file , add noatime,nodiratime at the end and disable atime 5) Optimal virtual memory apge size of mongoDB is 4096 bytes. Transparent Huge pages need to be disabled 6) To avoid conneciton issues in a heavy environment and to prevent loss of service, user limit and file descriptor limit should be set above 20000 ulimit -u limit -n Above command should return 20000 and above values 7) Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) needs to be disabled at BIOS as there could be a performance impact while accessing multiple memory nodes 8) In a sharded cluster environment Network Time Protocol (NTP) to synchronize time among hosts 9) Block devices store database files. Readahead settings should be optimal. Often value of 32(16KB) works fine

slamdata 3.0 makes live mongodb data display without ETL

Earlier we discussed about availability of slamdata a non-ETL solution to display live data from mongodb. It is interesting to know that slamdata has undergone rapid development over the pat two years and is currently at stable version 3.0 Slamdata makes it possible to display live data from mongodb database without using ETL tool. Hassle of extraction, transformation.loading, ETL mapping is being rid of using slamdata Here are some interesting features of slamdata 3.0 that makes it a better choice to access live data from mongodb 1) Powerful API's for developers - Utilizing the API's charts can be easily embedded into mongodb applications. I remember working on reporting tool with mysql backend, perl libraries to chart the data in front-end. Now, this is a piece of cake utilizing slamdata API's 2) Easy analytics using API's - Analytics can be easily embedded into mongodb applications. If you are currently using panda python packages for your predictive analytics, you might be aware of power of analytics in predictive analytics of social media like twitter, facebook, linkedin etc. Try slamdata to easily implement predictive analytics in a mongodb application 3) Brand-new user interface with best look and feel - This is easy to use, brand new, extremely powerful 4) Dashboard types supported - This version supports both static and dynamic dashboard creation. Dashboard is created in user interface 5) Enhanced framework - The framework has become more extensible making ti possible to write connectors for databases beyond mongodb including Couchbase, MarkLogic, postgresql etc 6) Gallery of charts - A detailed roster of charts are supported including basic area, basic line, irregular line, area, line,stacked area, line, bar, scatter, candlestick,pie, radar, chord,fd charts ,maps,eventriver, heatmap,venn,tree,treemap,wordcloud etc 7) Powerful documentation from slamdata makes it the best analytic tool for mongodb

Can we max out 401k while on an H1-B visa?

The common question among financial enthusiasts who choose to save each and every penny from day 1 is going to be should I max out my 401K while I am on H1-B visa? H1-B visa is the employer sponsored visa and 401K is employer sponsored plan. Most of the employers offer this option if not we can choose to save in IRA either traditional IRA (or) Roth IRA on an independent basis. The amount that can be saved depends on the annual limit set by IRS every year as well as your income limit. This question can be tackled in many different ways. Here are some scenarios that will suit your profile and decide accordingly 1) 401K return on investment and tax savings offers better return compared to other investments It is to be noted that H1-B visa is a temporary visa that does not guarantee permanent settlement until you get to the point of receiving your green card. With movement of green card priority dates not so green it would be always better to do simple math. It is to be noted that once you lose your visa status and happen to return back to your homeland you can transfer your 401K balance onto an IRA account and retain it until you reach retirement age 2) 401K return on investment - 401K is an employer sponsored tax saving instrument. You can open a solo 401K which happens to be associated with self-employment that is not possible in H1-B visa. IRA is something you can open on your own and your spouses name that can help you save total amount set by IRS per annum depending on your AGI (Adjusted gross income) and many different factors. The 401K funds can be invested into very safe instruments equivalent to that of CD's, bonds as well as moderate to high risk stock funds. Depending on who maintains your funds the fund fee needs to be taken into consideration. This is deducted every year. In case of IRA again IRA Cd's as well as funds can be chosen for investment purpose. The amount earned as return grows tax free. You can opt to switch the funds within your portfolio and you will not incur any penalty unless you withdraw the money 3) Employer match - Most of the employers match your 401K contribution. This is a free money that you don't want to lose 4) Both spouse can contribute towards 401K and IRA - If both of you are working and have employer sponsored program both of you can contribute annual maximum, get employer match. If one of you is working still other person can invest in IRA (even in case of homemaker) provided your AGI is within limits. Check with your tax professional on this 5) Early withdrawal penalty - Only point to note is that if you choose to withdraw before retirement age there is a early withdrawal penalty fees which is huge Is there a way to avoid early withdrawal penalty and access full funds with returns ? There is a hack called traditional IRA to Roth IRA conversion ladder that lets you access the funds in about 5 years timeframe. This comes with the advantage of paying lesser tax amount towards amount withdrawn. I'll explain that in detail in one of the coming posts. Stay tuned

Newborn Baby Registry Checklist For Parents

Parenting as such is a whole new responsibility, role that really excites us. Ever since the day we see the plus sign in pregnancy testing kit our life takes positive turn for this plus one bundle of joy. As such many of us start collecting information on how to nurture the womb, take care of the newborn, bring up the baby offering them best of the best. Lets start with newborn baby checklist that each and every new parent can count on. As a first step towards making purchase for your to be born baby, it is recommended to come up with list of items the first newborn baby checklist. This helps us create our baby registry without any delay, hiccups, without missing out real good deals. Baby registry can be created with many different merchandise vendors like target, amazon, babies r us, kohls etc. That is a whole new big topic to be discussed in real detail Lets look at newborn baby checklist that parents can count on 1) Car seat, stroller - Now many vendors offer this in form of travel system. Some popular names include Graco, Evenflo, Chiccoo etc. If you really look at features in detail it is more or less marketing glitz that makes them class apart. Based on our analysis and discussion boards parents essentially look for the following features while choosing a car seat (or) travel system 1.1) Car seat should have passed safety testing 1.2) Car seat should fit well in stroller 1.3) Car seat need not be too heavy 1.4) Some car seats are convertible form rear facing onto front facing until upto booster seats. This is ultimately your choice 1.5) Weight of baby which is proportional to its age and growth has been mentioned in car seat 1.6) Washable car seats, ones that offer easy maintenance are often looked upon As a buying tip look for price comparison online. Some stores like target essentially offer real great discounts in car seats. Look at weekly ad section. Amazon new moms program offers best discounts and free shipping with amazon prime membership based on season. It would be better to plan well in advance, have them stocked up even from first month of pregnancy as this saves ton money when bought during deal season 2) Crib with associated bedding - There has been contradicting opinion and views on usage of crib, buying new ones versus old ones. If we look at economy perspective old crib frame with new crib mattresses, crib sheets, crib cover, rail covers is essentially a great option. Look for used cribs in craiglist, ebay that offer better deals if you prefer used one. However, with price of cribs going down look for new cribs with best deals, free shipping handling in stores like walmart. They offer crib+mattress offers as well. If you prefer to decorate your nursery look for nursery decoration sets.If you prefer to save money see if you can buy needed items separately with online deals and discounts. Is crib really useful? Some advice to start with bassinet, pack n play. However, from long-term investment perspective cribs often appear to be a good choice. We can't discount that newborns can sleep alongside moms that eases job of mom, newborns don't need a separate bedding until upto certain point. But if we choose to train them to use crib from day 1, they get used to it. Go for 4 in 1 , 5 in 1 convertible cribs that convert to toddler beds. Some vendors offer toddler rials for free How to save money while buying crib? Cribs run from price ranging as low as $99 to $3000. Look for cribs that cater essential requirements: 1) Standard cribs fall in standard size specification usually 55x33x42 - Size varies. It would be better to visit stores while creating baby registry 2) Most cribs would have passed JPMA safety standard test. Look for safety passed cribs. Common brands that are popular and cater essential needs include Chicoo, Graco, Stockcraft, Delta etc. You can check and determine the cribs based on price and preference 3) Though we don't have real recommendation on shops best deals often come up in walmart.com website. Target website is equally good with lots of choices 4) Cribs often come in different color like white, espresso, cherry etc. Choose your color 5) Look for mattress height which is a specification that comes as part of crib specification details Crib accessories include essential bedding that include some of the following Crib Mattress - This can be memory foam, inner spring coil type. There is no real recommendation as such. Look for ones that has good review and rating Crib Sheets - Look for water proof sheets Crib Cover - Essentially cotton sheets that cover cribs. Always have 2 covers as one comes as spare during laundry Rim covering. Though not needed for first few months, this is needed for growing baby. If you prefer to entice baby look for decorative lighting rim covers from vendors like fisher price Crib bumper - To avoid issues related to hands, legs getting stuck in rails use crib bumper the lining 3) Baby items needed from Day 1 3.1) Diaper - You can choose to subscribe with vendors like pampers, Luv's, Huggies etc. If you prefer to wait pick and choose based on trial and error. Essential items to look for while picking diaper Look for diaper size. Size charts come from many different diaper vendor. On an average new born needs 8 to 10 diapers per day. Sizing varies from preemie, newborn, 1 month, 3 month etc. IF you subscribe more than 1 pack some offer introductory discounts. It would make sense to choose more than 1 pack stack up for next few months, save real big. 3.2) Diaper wipes -Again choose the vendor of your choice. In case you choose diaper and wipes form same vendor discounts apply on combined purchase price. Very good example is pampers 3.3) Baby bath set - Baby soap, baby shampoo, baby lotion, baby head to toe lotion. Though not recommended brands to choose form depends on your kids skin tone, response. So, dont stack too much before identifying this 3.4) Baby powder - There are two options . One can be used for whole body, some can be used in diaper area alone. Look for specifications while choosing the baby powder 3.5) Diaper Rash cream 3.6) Baby clothing - This is essentially important as many of us dont know if we can stack this up. To start with buy 3 pair of dresses to maximum 6 pair of dresses. Rather than new born size choose newborn to 3 months range. Accept the reality. Size keeps changing as baby grows. Many vendors dont offer discounts in baby clothing. Good idea would be to save real big by shopping this as part of baby registry creation with vendors like target, amazon, Kohls to name a few. What are essential baby clothing to start with? This is a question that many of us are not so sure . Here is a quick checklist you can count on Baby play N sleep Baby caps Baby Mittens Baby Sweater Baby socks - This includes both internal socks and external socks to fit clothing Sleepware - This single piece clothing is a comfort zone your newborn loves to be clad with most of the time Come home baby dress - This is purely optional Fleeceware/show coat - Depends on location, climate etc. In simple terms this is winter coat for your new born One piece baby fits - Have 1 or two of them Shirt and pant separate sets - From baby comfort perspective this is really advantageous. All you need to do while changing diaper is to change pants General considerations while choosing baby clothing Look for cotton dresses that are real comfortable Look for size chart based on your baby size. Say your baby weights x pounds during 8th month, doctor can determine baby weight on an average Have soft , comfortable clothing to take care of flimsy infant 3.7) Baby wash clothes - Until umblical chord falls off babies are expected to be bathed every other day. This can be done using baby body wash, baby shampoo. The bathing needs to be done with baby wash cloth 3.8) Diaper Stack holder - To easily pull out diapers stack holders come handy. This is optional but mostly used on day to day basis 4) Additional baby items 4.1) Swaddle blankets - There are many different blanket variants like receiving blankets, burp cloth etc. It is interesting to note that swaddle blankets cater all needs. Though there are ton lot of brands moms choice is Aden by Aden plus Anias. Starting with its 44x44 size, cotton fabric, threads this is preferred choice . Typical recommendation is 2 packs of 8 blankets in total. This can be used in crib, stroller, car seats etc. Adults can use this in future 4.2) Nursing Pillow - As with crib there are contradicting views on this. However, for comfortable nursing, breast as well as formula feeding this comes handy 4.3) Cream to assist with nipple soreness - This is in moms checklist and can be bought as part of registry or separately 4.4) Baby gripe water/pills to keep gastric issues under control - Not every kids are prone to gastric problem. So, this is optional 4.5) Baby memory book - This can include books that help you get baby footprint, handprint in addition to ones you get in hospital. Again this is optional 4.6) Camera/Camcoder - Capture memories of new born first few minutes. This can be done in phone as well 4.7) Baby laundry detergent 4.8) Baby bath tub - Look for sizes. Some brands can be used only upto 6 months. Ones like fisher can be used so long

Pediatrician Visit Checklist For New Parents

Are you going to visit your pediatrician? Are you new parents looking to know what to carry while visiting pediatrician? This is a common question many new parents have as the experience is typically new and they are not sure how the baby will behave during the outing. Here is the list of items you can carry with you while visiting your pediatrician 1) Diapers - Carry two to three extra diapers. Pediatricians expect you to remove diapers to weigh baby, measure baby's growth. During this there may be need of diaper change or additional diapers. Hence, carry something handy 2) Diaper rash cream - Apply diaper rash cream if your kids skin demands so 3) Wipes - Wipes are used to clean the baby if needed 4) Blanket - Atleast two blankets are needed one to cover the baby another as a spare blanket 5) Formula Feeding - Carry bottles, formula bottle. In case of breast feeding carry pumped breast milk 6) Burp cloth - To avoid spilling while feeding baby if need be 7) Napkins - needed to clean the baby 8) Water bottle - This is for parents who are really tired with handling new born 9) Baby book - You get this book from pediatrician that tracks the growth of baby. Note all the questions however silly it may before visiting pediatricians

System Administration Using Puppet 205 Practice Tests

Puppet 205 System Administration Practice Tests will help you prepare for the hottest puppet product the open-source software configuration management tool that is rapidly gaining popularity in Devops space. Prepare using our practice exam questions and pass the exam in first attempt System Administration Using Puppet 205 Practice Tests will help you prepare for the hottest puppet product the open-source software configuration management tool that is rapidly gaining popularity in Devops space 1) Which among the following comments is properly formatted as per puppet language style guide? a) // lr.com b) # lr.com c) /* lr.com */ d) ; lr.com Answer : b Explanation : As per puppet language style guide comments must be hash and not /* */ 2) As per puppet language style guide what should a comment explain? a) why of the code b) how of the code c) not of the code d) unrelated code Answer : a 3) Which command is used to view all certificates waiting to be signed? a) puppet cert list b) puppet cert sign c) puppet cert sign -a d) puppet cert list -a Answer : d 4) Which status is invalid in puppet reporting in the Puppet::Transaction::Event? a) failure b) success c) ready d) noop Answer : c 5) Can a resource have multiple namevars? a) Yes b) No Answer : a 6) [master] environmentpath = $codedir/override_environments:$codedir/environments Is this a valid reference for the code directory? a) Yes b) No Answer : a 7) How will you make use of mcollective to trigger a puppet run on all your CentOS linux nodes? a) mco puppet runonce CentOS b) mco puppet runonce -f operatingsystem=CentOS c) mco puppet runonce -f operatingsystem -v CentOS d) mco puppet runonce --wf operatingsystem=CentOS Answer : d Explanation : In puppet enterprise the fact option is to be used with with fact option --wf (or) -F . 8) What is a fact in puppet enterprise? a) standard puppet facts available in puppet manifests b) standard puppet facts available in puppet actions c) standard puppet facts available in puppet OS d) standard puppet facts available in puppet agents Answer : a 9) Which mcollective subcommand is the general purpose client that can invoke actions from any MCollective agent plugin ? a) rpc b) inventory c) plugin d) facts Answer : a 10) Which attributes do you need to make use of to make exec command Idempotent? Choose all that apply a) unless b) onlyif c) creates d) print Answer : a,b,c 11) Mcollective makes use of ports to accept inbound traffic connection requests from puppet agents. Which port is being made use of for this purpose? a) 8080 b) 3306 c) 8142 d) 61613 Answer : d Explanation : Any host used to invoke commands must be able to reach MCollective on this port. The PE Console accepts HTTPS traffic from end-users on this port 12) Which among the following statements are valid statements of the producing and consuming service? a) report b) produces c) consumes d) export Answer : b,c,d 13) You have monolithic installations. In which port does puppetdb accept incoming traffic? a) 8081 b) 8122 c) 61613 d) 8142 Answer : a 14) What are the many different ways in which you can apply puppet manifests to the nodes? Choose all that apply a) Using pupptmani.conf b) Using Hiera c) Puppet Enterprise Console d) Include in manifests/site.pp e) leserver.conf Answer : b,c,d 15) What kind of operands are accepted on either side of chained arrows? a) Resource declarations b) Resource references c) Resource Collectors d) Hash of resource references Answer : a,b,c 16) You have to create complex expressions in resource collectors. Which of the operators can be used for this purpose? Choose all that apply a) eq b) and c) or d) != e) || Answer : b,c,d 17) Which among the following operators take precedence in puppet? a) * b) = c) ! d) in Answer : c 18) Which among the following operator has fourth precedence? a) * b) and c) = d) in Answer : in 19) Which among the following operator has third precedence? a) * b) ! c) or d) in Answer : a 20) In $facts hash which among the following variables are available? a) $serverversion b) $settings c) $clientversion d) $environment e) $servername Answer : c 21) Which $facts hash variable has current version of puppet agent information and are available as top-score variable as well? a) $serverversion b) $settings c) $clientversion d) $clientenvironment e) $servername Answer : c 22) Which among the below abstract datatypes will not match undef default? a) variant b) data c) any d) vector e) scalar Answer : e 23) Does variant datatype accept undef type as a parameter that will lead to resulting datatype match the undef? a) Yes b) No Answer : a 24) You have been asked to install puppetlabs-apache module from another module repository. Which command would you make use of for this purpose? a) puppet module install puppetlabs:apache b) puppet module install puppetlabs-apache c) puppet module install ~/puppetlabs-apache-0.10.0.tar.gz d) puppet module install --module_repository http://dev-forge.example.com puppetlabs-apache Answer : d 25) Which among the following categories does appear in the report of Puppet::Util::Metric object? a) resources b) events c) audit d) time e) changes Answer : a,b,d,e 26) In which directory of the module structure does the test function written to test functionality of the application reside? a) manifests b) examples c) functions d) templates Answer : b 27) Which among the following is not the control expression of an unless statement? a) undef values b) variables c) scalar d) expression vector Answer : a 28) Which among the following are catalog statements? a) realize b) include c) require d) contain e) notice Answer : a,b,c,d 29) Which operator can convert an array into a comma separated list of arguments? a) in.A b) A.or c) A.*(splat) d) A.+(concatenation) Answer : c 30) While writing a new class named mongodb::master which of the below module path should contain degnition class? a) mongodb/manifests/slave.pp b) mongodb/manifests/master/init.pp c) mongodb/classes/manifests.pp d) mongodb/manifests/master.pp Answer : d Explanation : The class modules and codes reside in the manifests directory 31)For running mcollective commands which user will you make use of? a) admin b) deploy c) puppet d) peadmin Answer : d 32) Who can issue mcollective commands as they control the puppet master? a) peadmin b) puppet c) admin d) sudeo Answer : a 33) Which among the following components is not a component of the mcollective orchestration internals? a) rpc b) mco c) pe-actiemq d) pe-mcollective Answer : a 34) Which among the following key types are accepted by priority lookup in hiera 3.x? a) top-level lookup keys b) low-level lookup keys c) qualiqed keys d) merge keys Answer : a,c

Puppet Interview Questions

Puppet is the most popular software configuration tool that forms part of any interview starting from fresher, middle level to experienced IT professionals owing to migration to Devops culture. Here are useful interview questions that will help you with preparation 1) Which operator can convert an array into a comma separated list of arguments? A.*(splat) 2) While writing a new class named mongodb::master which module path should contain definition class? The class modules and codes reside in the manifests directory. mongodb/manifests/master.pp 3) For running mcollective commands which user will you make use of? Make use of user peadmin 4) Who can issue mcollective commands as they control the puppet master? Make use of user peadmin 5) In which directory of the module structure does the test function written to test functionality of the application reside? It resides in the directory examples 6) Which is a control expression of an unless statement? Make use of undef values 7) Mcollective makes use of ports to accept inbound traffic connection requests from puppet agents. Which port is being made use of for this purpose? Any host used to invoke commands must be able to reach MCollective on this port. The PE Console accepts HTTPS traffic from end-users on this port 61613 8) You have monolithic installations. In which port does puppetdb accept incoming traffic? In port 8081 9) What are the many different ways in which you can apply puppet manifests to the nodes? Make use of one of the following methods : a) Using Hiera b) Puppet Enterprise Console c) Include in manifests/site.pp 10) What kind of operands are accepted on either side of chained arrows? a) Resource declarations b) Resource references c) Resource Collectors 11) You have to create complex expressions in resource collectors. Which of the operators can be used for this purpose? We can make use of anyone of the following operators : a) and b) or c) != 12) As per puppet language style guide what should a comment explain? It should explain why of the code 13) What is proper format of comments as per puppet guide? As per puppet language style guide comments must be hash and not /* */ 14) Which command is used to view all certificates waiting to be signed? Make use of the command puppet cert list -a 15) Which status is invalid in puppet reporting in the Puppet::Transaction::Event? The status ready is not a valid status 16) Can a resource have multiple namevars? Yes. There can be 17) [master] environmentpath = $codedir/override_environments:$codedir/environments Is this a valid reference for the code directory? Yes. This is a valid reference for the code directory 18) How will you make use of mcollective to trigger a puppet run on all your CentOS linux nodes? Using command mco puppet runonce --wf operatingsystem=CentOS 19) How will you make use of fact option in puppet? In puppet enterprise the fact option is to be used with with fact option --wf (or) -F 20) What is a fact in puppet enterprise? It is a standard puppet facts available in puppet manifests 21) Which attributes do you need to make use of to make exec command Idempotent? We need the following attributes: a) unless b) onlyif c) creates 22) Which are valid statements of the producing and consuming service? a) produces b) consumes c) export 23) Which operators take precedence in puppet? The operator ! takes precedence 24) Which mcollective subcommand is the general purpose client that can invoke actions from any MCollective agent plugin ? Make use of command rpc 25) Does variant datatype accept undef type as a parameter that will lead to resulting datatype match the undef? Yes . It does 26) Give details on some catalog statements :- a) realize b) include c) require d) contain 27) Which key types are accepted by priority lookup in hiera 3.x? a) top-level lookup keys b) qualiqed keys 28) Which abstract datatype will not match undef default? It is scalar datatype 29) Which abstract datatype will match undef default? It includes datatypes like the ones below : a) variant b) data c) any d) vector 30) You have been asked to install puppetlabs-apache module from another module repository. Which command would you make use of for this purpose? Using command puppet module install --module_repository http://dev-forge.example.com puppetlabs-apache 31) Which categories does appear in the report of Puppet::Util::Metric object? a) resources b) events c) time d) changes 32) Which component is not a component of the mcollective orchestration internals? It is the rpc 33) Which component is a component of the mcollective orchestration internals? a) mco b) pe-actiemq c) pe-mcollective 34) In $facts hash which variables are available? It is the variable $clientversion 35) Which $facts hash variable has current version of puppet agent information and are available as top-score variable as well? It is the variable $clientversion 36) What is the purpose of fileserver.conf file? The file that specifies the configuration for additional fileserver mount points for puppet master is fileserver.conf file 37) What is the use of pe.conf file in a puppet environment? pe.conf file is used to specify installation configuration parameters 38) What are the many different ways of applying manifests to nodes in a puppet environment? Many different ways like Hiera,Puppet Enterprise console, manifests/site.pp can be used to apply manifests to nodes in a puppet environment

Advantage of paying taxes with credit card

I filed my taxes yesterday and chose to pay the taxes using my Chase Freedom credit card instead of direct ACH transfer from my bank account. The CPA was against this as he had mentioned that I'm making a foolish decision by wasting 1.89% towards processing fees. Here is what I explained him that I'd like to share as money saving tip today 1) I applied for chase freedom credit card last month after doing rough math of my taxes. Chase freedom card comes with $150 cash back bonus that can also be redeemed in form of Chase ultimate rewards that can be used for many different purposes including travel. In my earlier post I've given full details on why I'm maintaining my Chase Sapphire reserve credit card inspite of paying $450 annual fees. The ultimate reward points that I earn towards meeting this spending limit can be redeemed towards travel 1.5 times its value as ultimate reward points can be combined and transferred from Chase freedom card onto Chase Sapphire card. The equivalent cash value becomes $150 x 1.5 = $225 2) In addition to this I earn 1% cashback on my spending in Chase Freedom credit card 3) Chase freedom comes with 15 months 0% APR on purchases. So, I dont have to repay this amount in full. Typically if I repay the minimum balance with $1 extra every billing cycle for next 15 months it is more than sufficient 4) I can park this money in safe instruments like one-year CD. Currently the average rate on one year CD is 2.10%. With 15 months interest it comes around 2.15% APY Now, let us do simple math on processing fee and see if we make more Processing Fee = 1.89% Income Earned by Parking in CD's = 2.15% Cash back rewards = 1% Cashback rewards + sign-on bonus rewards towards travel = 1.5 times $150 plus your tax bill As a whole I save 0.50% minimum towards this if I make use of Chase Freedom credit card. You can apply for Chase Freedom credit card and get this approved today. Interestingly there is no annual fee ($0 annul fee) on Chase Freedom credit card

Rakuten Ebates offers hefty cashback during Tax filing

Tax season is the favorite season to talk more on money, taxes, savings, Wouldn’t it be interesting to get rewarded for paying your taxes appropriately in the form of cashback. Now, ebates does offer fantastic cashback for simply starting your tax filing from within ebates. Choose from one of the many different taxstore options available, shop around and start tax filing Ebates a popular cashback site literally offers free money for starting the purchase from their website. This free money comes in the form of cashback. I started using this last month. I got my first cashback cheque yesterday. Today morning I started shopping around for best fee with tax filing software inside ebates website. Interestingly I found lots of interesting cashback bonuses while using tax filing software from within ebates Here are the cashback percentage that are calculated on total amount spent towards tax filing as fees before taxes while your taxstore shopping starts at ebates H&R Block e-file.com FreeTaxUSA TaxAct e-smart Tax intuit Payroll

Powercfg Utility to Rename Power Plan in Windows 7 also using powercfg scripts

We'll be discussing on how to rename a power plan in windows 7. Windows 7 has rich set of tools and utilities to perform  various functions. One such tool useful in power management is the powercfg tool. Powercfg (or) powercfg.exe can be invoked by typing powercfg at command prompt. Click CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER. This opens the utility to be run as administrator. To get list of power plans issue powercfg -list (or) powercfg -l Choose the guid of the power plan to be renamed. Issue the powercfg -changename GUID newname description command. In this description is optional. Again issue powercfg -l to make sure that power plan has been renamed properly. C:Windowssystem32>powercfg -l Existing Power Schemes (* Active) ----------------------------------- Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) Power Scheme GUID: 49ef8fc0-bb7f-488e-b6a0-f1fc77ec649b  (Dell) Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance) Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver) Power Scheme GUID: a6020543-6300-4f30-8fb7-485080ba4de8  (Newname) * C:Windowssystem32>powercfg -CHANGENAME a6020543-6300-4f30-8fb7-485080ba4de8 Ne wname_Test C:Windowssystem32>powercfg -l Existing Power Schemes (* Active) ----------------------------------- Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) Power Scheme GUID: 49ef8fc0-bb7f-488e-b6a0-f1fc77ec649b  (Dell) Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance) Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver) Power Scheme GUID: a6020543-6300-4f30-8fb7-485080ba4de8  (Newname_Test) * C:Windowssystem32> While trying this command  I had an error initially which said : C:Windowssystem32>powercfg --changename  a6020543-6300-4f30-8fb7-485080ba4de8 Newname Invalid Parameters -- try "/?" for help I tried reducing space between --changename and GUID. It should be one spacing. By mistake I had two tab spacing which invoked error. I changed spacing to one tab spacing. This fixed the problem. Powercfg commands can be issued in command-line or using powercfg scripts in windows

SAP HANA interview questions

SAP HANA Scheduling using Windows Scheduler And HDBSQL:

HDBSQL the command line interface helps SAP HANA system interact with SAP HANA database. As SAP HANA adds new features, it si important to note that SAP HANA has a scheduler missing now. This prevents us from scheduling routine batch jobs at DB level.However, it is possible to schedule at windows level using OS scheduler and SAP HANA HDBSQL command-line tool

SAP HANA DB Users:

If an user wants to work with SAP HANA DB he needs a user accoutn with a set of privileges to work on SAP HANADB

What is a role?

Role is the set of privileges

Why is a role important in SAP HANA DB?

Every user who gets created and works with SAP HANA DB will be grnated a role which internally carries set of privileges

This is a clear demarcation of level of access a user gets and actions a user can perform at SAP HANA DB

What happens when SAP HANA DB is installed?

As a part of default SAP HANA installation some standard user like SYSTEM which is the user account used for day-to-day activities gets created. SYSTEM user account is also important as this is account that created DB users and offer them privilege to perform tasks at SAP HANA DB level

In addition to standard SYSTEM users, some DB technical accounts that perform database technicalities like statistics collection, SYs operation are also created. Some of these accounts include SYS, _SYS_STATISTICS. Note that we cannot log onto SAP HANA DB using these accounts

SAP HANA Operating System User Overview

Users who wish o work with SAP HANA DB need a user account at DB level. During SAP HANA install SYSTEM account the DB account gets created that helps in other user account creation and administration

At OS level an user account adm called the OS system administrator gets created. This account controls SAP HANA system files and file structures at OS level. This user doesnt exist at DB. In short this is system administrator account from OS context

What is significance of OS admin form SAP HANA studio perspective?

This user credentials are neede dto perform DB start/stop, recovery of DB and such DB admin tasks from sAP HANA studio interface. The first step (i.e) to start a SAP HANA system requires adm OS administrator credentials

SAP HANA Backup File Location:

As with any system SAP HANA system needs to be backed up. The backup destination of SAP HANA is smae as common software system $DIR_INSTANCE/backup/data

This is default backup destination and it is possible to change the backup destination using global.ini parameter basepath_databackup

It is also possible to make changes using SAP HANA studio configuration tab. Choose file global.ini->persistence, make changes

SAP HANA Project Orange:

On November 7th, 2011 SAP released its much awaited in-memory database originally names as Project Orange but later rebranded as SAP HANA. Hence both names represent same. As per SAP project orange is huge and it is  a project that will likely replace all the vendor databases including oracle, sql server , db2 and migrate entire SAP infrastructure onto its DB

It is good practice to always work on latest version of SAP HANA studio. We can check for updates manually on a regular basis.We cna also configure SAP HANA studio to check for updates automatically

We can configure automated updates download form site (same as simple microsoft updates)

How to specify the update site details?

In SAP HANA studio specify the update site details using following navigation

Window->Preferences->Install/Update->Available Software Sites

Choose Add option and specify name of update repository and its location there

SAP HANA studio manual updates:

It is possible to apply manual updates as follows :

From Main menu choose, Help->Check For Updates -- Teh SAP HANA studio software checks specified site for latest updates

If you see an update look at the instructions, follow instruction and install updates

SAP HANA Studio Manual And Automated Updates - SAP HANA Studio automated updates :

We cna configure SAP HANA studio to check for updates automatically and get an alert on new update if one exists

From Main menu choose -> windows->Preferences->Install/Update->Automatic Updates

Specify update settings to get automated update availability alert

SAP Offers ERP Migration From DB to HANA:

Recently SAP announced that business suite is in ramp-up for HANA. ERP migration (i.e) BW migration from current RDBMS database to HANA is going to be risk free as per SAP

SAP recommends a dual delivery setup wherein we first migrateERP RDBMS to HANA, test the migrated systems, verify migration, move end users to BW on HANA system

SAP HANA migration is a full database migration and hence all the users in current RDBMS of BW will be migrated to SAP HANA

All users/roles in BW application are initially defined using ERP application layer. Hence after migration there will be a simple role change for users of SAP HANA datamodeling studio in HANA datamart

SAP HANA HDBSQL Options:

HDBSQL is the command line interface that can be used to query information on DB and DB objects. This cna be used in interactive, non-interactive mode. Following are some common options that come with HDBSQL

-i - This is DB instance ID. it is usally possible to make use of windows services panel to get to know detials on DB instance

-u - This is useraccoutn using which we try to log into DB. Note that user account must exist at DB

-p - This is password for DB user

-U - this is credential from user store

-z - This sets autocommit mode off

-saml-assertion - Used file to provide SAML assertion

-r - This option supresses usage of prepared statements

-n - this is hostname of machine on which DB is installed and port number

SAP HANA Analytics Foundation For SAP Business Suite:

SPA HANA analytics foundation for SAP Business suite popularly called SHAF was released on December 2012

It provides infrastructure to enable data from SAP business suite to be used by SAP HANA for analytic processing

This provides views in SAP HANA for reporting on data that persisted in SAP HANA table format from SAP business suite of products without any data transfer form original tables in suite

This helps business users analyze data and make business decisions.

Technical implemnetation is using SAP HANA integrated studio that makes reporting possible from SAP business suite

To put it simple SHAF is the reporting tool to generate business report from SAP business suite of products

SAP HANA system Properties Brief Overview:

In any system its properties are usually stored in a common file called as configuration file. Say in case of oracle DB it is init.ora (or) spfile.ora

In case of a PHP system it si php.ini

similar to that SAP HANA system stores its configuration properties in a system file. The properties of SAP HANA system are defined as part of different configuration parameters in this file

Parameters of same category are bundled and categorized in this configuration file

How can we change the properties of SAP HANA system?

As with all other systems, an user wiht administrative privilege INIFILE ADMIN will be able to make changes to the properties in the file

1) In SAP HANA studio administration editor, choose Configuration tab - This gives us list of all configuration files

2) Choos eand expand the particular configuraiton file we want to change - This lists all the sections of that particular configuration file

3) Expand the section of interest - Choose parameter we wish to change. By default these parameters will have some value set in place

4) Choose Change in context menu of configuraiton parameter. This pops Change Configuration Value dialog box

5) Enter new value

6) While entering new value if these changes are confined to specific hosts, we need to choose the Hosts area of Change Configuration value dialog box, choose specific hosts and enter host specific values

Thus it is possible to change value and have its scope across systems,hosts. If specified hosts specific value takes precedence over systemwide value

Some parameters can't be changed at host level and they show disabled icon in Hosts area of Change Configuraiton value dialog

Does the change in parameter value require system restart?

simple answer is No. If needed relevant components of system are restarted on it own

SAP HANA System Schema:

System schema are database schemas that get created in SAP HANA database. As these are not realtime users we cannot make use of these accounts to log into database

Following is the list of SAP HANA System schema

1)_SYS_BI

2) _SYS_BIC - This contains details on column views, metadata

3) _SYS_REORG

4) _SYS_REPO - This is repsitory owner

5) _SYS_STATISTICS - Schema used for statistics collection at DB. Performance of a system depends on statistics and it needs to be uptodate for optimal system performance

SAP HANA Studio An Introduction Usage Overview:

SAP HANA studio is a java application that is supported on top of eclipse platform. It is a all in one tool that is being used by administrators, developers, project managers as it ahs lots of features to be used by many different people in an organization

1) SAP HANA studio tool has provision to start, stop, monitor the system, perform configuration, create modeled views, stored procedures etc

2) It connects to SAP HANA DB using sql (JDBC internally)

3) SAP HANA DB acts as repository to store modeled views, stored procedures and such artifacts

Who can make use of SAP HANA studio?

Based on its features and functionality it cna be used by range of personnel in an organization including

1) SAP HANA Admins

2) DBA's

3) Dat aModeler

4) SAP HANA Developer

5) Lifecycle managers (usually ALM personnel)

SAP HANA _SYS_REPO User:

SAP HANA has some technical database users that usually cant be used for logging into database. Instead they support various technicalities of SAP HANA database. One such user is _SYS_STATISTICS, _SYS_REPO etc.

_SYS_REPO is teh SAP HANA technical database user that is used by SAP HANA repository.

SAP HANA repository consists of design time versions of many different objects such as analytic views,calculation views, procedures, analytic privileges, roles. The owner of all objects in repository and activated runtime version is _SYS_REPO user

How is query analysed in SAP HANA database?

Query analysis in any database starts with query plan. SAP HANA DB is no different.We can generate explain plan for query under investigation in SQL console and use this to determine next steps

Enter the query in SLQ console and in context menu choose EXPLAIN PLAN. this is for explain plan for single query.To generate multiple explain plans for many different queries we enter many SQL's seperated by semicolon

EXPLAIN PLAN is displayed in Result tab

Are plan explanations stored at DB level?

Yes, SQL EXPLAIn PLAN explanations are stored at explain_plan_table view of SYS schema. This cna be used for later examination

SAP HANA HDBSQL Overview:

Just as the case with all software systems SAP HANA comes with its own flavour of command line execution using HDBSQL.We can execute sql commands, DB procedures, query information on DB and DB objects using HDBSQL component of SAP HANA software. We can access databases on both local systems and remote computers

How do I start using HDBSQL?

Execute hdbsql [options] to call hdbsql

Note that hdbsql cna be used in both interactive and non-interactive mode to query informaiton on DB and DB objects

We can also import command from a file and execute it in backend using HDBSQL

SAP BW on SAP HANA :

This is a common terminology usd among SAP datawarehousing professionals these days. It is simple SAP BW netweaver datawarehouse that is hosted and runs on in-memory appliance software SAP HANA. SAP supports migration of existing BW RDBMS to SAP HANAand it provider faster output than regular dataabses like ORacle,SQL Server

It is possible to migrate data from existingERP (SAP BW) to SAP HANA using dual delivery model. Themigration is a full DB migration and involves some changes in SAP HANA datamart roles after migration

SAP BW on HANA Sizing :

It is important to have capacity planning of SAP BW on SAP HANA and sizing involves following considerations

1) RAM Sizing - Get details on full data footprint - This involves memory sizing for column store data , memory sizing for row store data, memory sizing for runtime objects, data load, query execution

2) CPU sizing

3) Disk Sizing

Capacity planning involves personnel who will be working on this technical infrastructure. We can also make use of an ABAP script that helps us get sizign details

The sizing report /SDF/HANA_BW_SIZING is a easy to deploy script that considers user defined future growth and has many parametrs and is independent of source databasecompression

SAP HANA Database Backup Methods & Tools :

It is possible to perform SAP HANA database backup using different tools and methods

1) SAP HANA studio - This eclipse framework offers a way to perform SAP HANA backup. This requires OS <sid>adm privilege to proceed further without any issues

2) SQL commands

3) Batch mode - This is set of commands in a file run usually as batch script

 What is SAP's Business Framework?

SAP's Business Framework is a product oriented architecture framework from SAP.This framework enables simple configuration and connection management of all business processes.This provides hardware and platform independence of components and help them function in an integrated fashion.This framework enables easy addition and removal of applications into existing enterprise software without interrupting day-to-day activities of business.Applications included in this framework communicate using ALE (Application Link Enabling). protocol.

Data is transferred between the applications included in this framework using SAP-certified BAPI interfaces.

The applications can be SAP Products such as SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW), Advanced Planner and Optimizer(APO) or non-SAP products.

Applications such as a company's existing self-service intranet applications can be integrated into this framework.

For connecting third-party applications into this framework they must be SAP certified.

A good example of an application integrated in the SAP's Business Framework is R/3 System.