Splunk SPLK-4001 Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Exam Practice Test

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, lag is a rollup function that returns the difference between the most recent and the previous data point values seen in the metric time series reporting interval. This can be used to measure the time delta between a data point being sent and a data point being received, as long as the data points have timestamps that reflect their send and receive times. For example, if a data point is sent at 10:00:00 and received at 10:00:05, the lag value for that data point is 5 seconds.

The correct answer is D. Mean (Transformation).

According to the web search results, a mean transformation is an analytic function that returns the average value of a metric or a dimension over a specified time interval1. A mean transformation can be used to smooth a very spiky metric, such as cpu.utilization, by reducing the impact of outliers and noise. A mean transformation can also help to see if the metric is trending up or down over time, by showing the general direction of the average value. For example, to smooth the cpu.utilization metric and see if it is trending up over time, you can use the following SignalFlow code:

mean(1h, counters(“cpu.utilization”))

This will return the average value of the cpu.utilization counter metric for each metric time series (MTS) over the last hour. You can then use a chart to visualize the results and compare the mean values across different MTS.

Option A is incorrect because rate/sec is not an analytic function, but rather a rollup function that returns the rate of change of data points in the MTS reporting interval1. Rate/sec can be used to convert cumulative counter metrics into counter metrics, but it does not smooth or trend a metric. Option B is incorrect because median is not an analytic function, but rather an aggregation function that returns the middle value of a metric or a dimension over the entire time range1. Median can be used to find the typical value of a metric, but it does not smooth or trend a metric. Option C is incorrect because mean (by host) is not an analytic function, but rather an aggregation function that returns the average value of a metric or a dimension across all MTS with the same host dimension1. Mean (by host) can be used to compare the performance of different hosts, but it does not smooth or trend a metric.

Mean (Transformation) is an analytic function that allows you to smooth a very spiky metric by applying a moving average over a specified time window. This can help you see the general trend of the metric over time, without being distracted by the short-term fluctuations1

To use Mean (Transformation) on a cpu.utilization metric, you need to select the metric from the Metric Finder, then click on Add Analytics and choose Mean (Transformation) from the list of functions. You can then specify the time window for the moving average, such as 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 1 hour. You can also group the metric by host or any other dimension to compare the smoothed values across different servers2

To learn more about how to use Mean (Transformation) and other analytic functions in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/analytics.html#Mean-Transformation  2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/analytics.html

The required components in the configuration of a data point are:

• Metric Name: A metric name is a string that identifies the type of measurement that the data point represents, such as cpu.utilization, memory.usage, or response.time. A metric name is mandatory for every data point, and it must be unique within a Splunk Observability Cloud organization1
• Timestamp: A timestamp is a numerical value that indicates the time at which the data point was collected or generated. A timestamp is mandatory for every data point, and it must be in epoch time format, which is the number of seconds since January 1, 1970 UTC1
• Value: A value is a numerical value that indicates the magnitude or quantity of the measurement that the data point represents. A value is mandatory for every data point, and it must be compatible with the metric type of the data point1

Therefore, the correct answer is A, C, and D.

To learn more about how to configure data points in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation1.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/metrics.html#Data-points

The correct answer is B. Adding logging into the metrics receiver pipeline.

The logging exporter is a component that allows the OpenTelemetry Collector to send traces, metrics, and logs directly to the console. It can be used to diagnose and troubleshoot issues with telemetry received and processed by the Collector, or to obtain samples for other purposes1

To activate the logging exporter, you need to add it to the pipeline that you want to diagnose. In this case, since you are experiencing issues with a new receiver for metrics, you need to add the logging exporter to the metrics receiver pipeline. This will create a new plot that shows the metrics received by the Collector and any errors or warnings that might occur1

The image that you have sent with your question shows how to add the logging exporter to the metrics receiver pipeline. You can see that the exporters section of the metrics pipeline includes logging as one of the options. This means that the metrics received by any of the receivers listed in the receivers section will be sent to the logging exporter as well as to any other exporters listed2

To learn more about how to use the logging exporter in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation1.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry/components/logging-exporter.html 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry/exposed-endpoints.html

According to the Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Track document1, cloning a detector creates a copy of the detector that you can modify without affecting the original detector. You can change the metric, filter, and signal settings of the cloned detector. However, the new signals that you add to the cloned detector will not be reflected in the original detector, nor in the original chart that the detector was based on. Therefore, option D is correct.

Option A is incorrect because the new signals will not be reflected in the original detector. Option B is incorrect because the new signals will not be reflected in the original chart. Option C is incorrect because you can monitor all of the new signals that you add to the cloned detector.

The correct answer is D. Each data marker represents the sum of API calls in the hour leading up to the data marker.

The metric demo.trans.count is a cumulative counter metric, which means that it represents the total number of API calls since the start of the measurement. A cumulative counter metric can be used to measure the rate of change or the sum of events over a time period1

The chart below shows the metric demo.trans.count with a one-hour rollup and a line chart type. A rollup is a way to aggregate data points over a specified time interval, such as one hour, to reduce the number of data points displayed on a chart. A line chart type connects the data points with a line to show the trend of the metric over time2

Each data marker on the chart represents the sum of API calls in the hour leading up to the data marker. This is because the rollup function for cumulative counter metrics is sum by default, which means that it adds up all the data points in each time interval. For example, the data marker at 10:00 AM shows the sum of API calls from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM3

To learn more about how to use metrics and charts in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to these documentations123.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/metrics.html#Metric-types 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Data-resolution-and-rollups-in-charts 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Rollup-functions-for-metric-types

The correct answer is C. Line, Area, Column.

For line, area, and column charts, you can set the individual plot visualization to change the appearance of each plot in the chart. For example, you can change the color, shape, size, or style of the lines, areas, or columns. You can also change the rollup function, data resolution, or y-axis scale for each plot1

To set the individual plot visualization for line, area, and column charts, you need to select the chart from the Metric Finder, then click on Plot Chart Options and choose Individual Plot Visualization from the list of options. You can then customize each plot according to your preferences2

To learn more about how to use individual plot visualization in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Individual-plot-visualization 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Set-individual-plot-visualization

The correct answer is D. Map, Nodes, Workloads, Node Detail, Workload Detail, Pod Detail, Container Detail.

The built-in Kubernetes Navigator is a feature of Splunk Observability Cloud that provides a comprehensive and intuitive way to monitor the performance and health of Kubernetes environments. It includes the following views:

• Map: A graphical representation of the Kubernetes cluster topology, showing the relationships and dependencies among nodes, pods, containers, and services. You can use the map to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues in your cluster1
• Nodes: A tabular view of all the nodes in your cluster, showing key metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, disk usage, and network traffic. You can use the nodes view to compare and analyze the performance of different nodes1
• Workloads: A tabular view of all the workloads in your cluster, showing key metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, network traffic, and error rate. You can use the workloads view to compare and analyze the performance of different workloads, such as deployments, stateful sets, daemon sets, or jobs1
• Node Detail: A detailed view of a specific node in your cluster, showing key metrics and charts for CPU utilization, memory usage, disk usage, network traffic, and pod count. You can also see the list of pods running on the node and their status. You can use the node detail view to drill down into the performance of a single node2
• Workload Detail: A detailed view of a specific workload in your cluster, showing key metrics and charts for CPU utilization, memory usage, network traffic, error rate, and pod count. You can also see the list of pods belonging to the workload and their status. You can use the workload detail view to drill down into the performance of a single workload2
• Pod Detail: A detailed view of a specific pod in your cluster, showing key metrics and charts for CPU utilization, memory usage, network traffic, error rate, and container count. You can also see the list of containers within the pod and their status. You can use the pod detail view to drill down into the performance of a single pod2
• Container Detail: A detailed view of a specific container in your cluster, showing key metrics and charts for CPU utilization, memory usage, network traffic, error rate, and log events. You can use the container detail view to drill down into the performance of a single container2

To learn more about how to use Kubernetes Navigator in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation3.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/infrastructure/monitor/k8s-nav.html#Kubernetes-Navigator 2: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/infrastructure/monitor/k8s-nav.html#Detail-pages 3: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/infrastructure/monitor/k8s-nav.html

The correct answer is D. The detector is automatically linked to the chart.

When you create a detector from a chart on a custom dashboard, the detector is automatically linked to the chart. This means that you can see the detector status and alerts on the chart, and you can access the detector settings from the chart menu. You can also unlink the detector from the chart if you want to1

Changes made to the chart do not affect the detector, and changes made to the detector do not affect the chart. The detector and the chart are independent entities that have their own settings and parameters. However, if you change the metric or dimension of the chart, you might lose the link to the detector1

The alerts generated by the detector will show up in the Alerts page, where you can view, manage, and acknowledge them. You can also see them on the team landing page if you assign the detector to a team2

To learn more about how to create and link detectors from charts on custom dashboards, you can refer to this documentation1.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/link-detectors-to-charts.html 2: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/view-manage-alerts.html

The correct answer is A. 64.

According to the web search results, the limit on the number of properties that an MTS can have is 64. A property is a key-value pair that you can assign to a dimension of an existing MTS to add more context to the metrics. For example, you can add the property use: QA to the host dimension of your metrics to indicate that the host is used for QA1

Properties are different from dimensions, which are key-value pairs that are sent along with the metrics at the time of ingest. Dimensions, along with the metric name, uniquely identify an MTS. The limit on the number of dimensions per MTS is 362

To learn more about how to use properties and dimensions in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/metrics-and-metadata/metrics-dimensions-mts.html#Custom-properties 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/metrics-and-metadata/metrics-dimensions-mts.html

According to the web search results, dimensions are metadata in the form of key-value pairs that monitoring software sends in along with the metrics. The set of metric time series (MTS) dimensions sent during ingest is used, along with the metric name, to uniquely identify an MTS1. Splunk Observability Cloud has a limit of 36 unique dimensions per MTS2. If the limit of allowed dimensions is exceeded for an MTS, the additional dimensions are dropped and not stored or indexed by Observability Cloud2. This means that the data point is still ingested, but without the extra dimensions. Therefore, option A is correct.

According to the Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Track document1, trigger sensitivity is a setting that determines how long a signal must remain above or below a threshold before an alert is triggered. By default, trigger sensitivity is set to Immediate, which means that an alert is triggered as soon as the signal crosses the threshold. This can result in a lot of alerts, especially if the signal fluctuates frequently around the threshold value. To reduce the number of alerts, you can adjust the trigger sensitivity to a longer duration, such as 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 15 minutes. This means that an alert is only triggered if the signal stays above or below the threshold for the specified duration. This can help filter out noise and focus on more persistent issues.

The Pod conditions that the Analyzer panel in Kubernetes Navigator monitors are:

• Not Scheduled: This condition indicates that the Pod has not been assigned to a Node yet. This could be due to insufficient resources, node affinity, or other scheduling constraints1
• Unknown: This condition indicates that the Pod status could not be obtained or is not known by the system. This could be due to communication errors, node failures, or other unexpected situations1
• Failed: This condition indicates that the Pod has terminated in a failure state. This could be due to errors in the application code, container configuration, or external factors1
• Pending: This condition indicates that the Pod has been accepted by the system, but one or more of its containers has not been created or started yet. This could be due to image pulling, volume mounting, or network issues1

Therefore, the correct answer is A, B, C, and D.

To learn more about how to use the Analyzer panel in Kubernetes Navigator, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#pod-phase 2: https://docs.splunk.com/observability/infrastructure/monitor/k8s-nav.html#Analyzer-panel

The alert recipients tab specifies where notification messages should be sent when alerts are triggered or cleared. The options that can be used are:

• Invoke a webhook URL. This option allows you to send a HTTP POST request to a custom URL that can perform various actions based on the alert information. For example, you can use a webhook to create a ticket in a service desk system, post a message to a chat channel, or trigger another workflow1
• Send an SMS message. This option allows you to send a text message to one or more phone numbers when an alert is triggered or cleared. You can customize the message content and format using variables and templates2
• Send to email addresses. This option allows you to send an email notification to one or more recipients when an alert is triggered or cleared. You can customize the email subject, body, and attachments using variables and templates. You can also include information from search results, the search job, and alert triggering in the email3

Therefore, the correct answer is A, C, and D.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Alert/Webhooks 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Alert/SMSnotification 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Documentation/Splunk/latest/Alert/Emailnotification