D-MSS-DS-23 Exam Questions and Answers

QUESTION: 6

A technical architect is working with a customer to design a Dell Unity XT solution. The customer is concerned about enabling the data reduction storage service.
What system condition should the architect recommend for enabling data reduction?

CPU utilization above 80%
Free capacity above 80%
Free capacity at or less than 50% free capacity
CPU utilization at or less than 50%

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

Data Reduction in Dell Unity XT:

Data reduction technologies (deduplication and compression) are resource-intensive operations that require careful consideration of system conditions before enabling.

Efficient data reduction improves storage utilization and performance but can significantly impact CPU resources.

Enabling Data Reduction:

The ideal condition for enabling data reduction on a Dell Unity XT system is when the CPU utilization is manageable.

A CPU utilization at or less than 50% ensures that the system has enough headroom to handle the additional processing load without compromising overall performance.

System Conditions:

CPU utilization above 80%: Enabling data reduction under high CPU load can degrade performance and lead to system instability.

Free capacity above 80%: High free capacity does not directly impact the ability to enable data reduction but does indicate ample storage space.

Free capacity at or less than 50%: Lower free capacity might indicate higher utilization, which can stress the system when data reduction is enabled.

CPU utilization at or less than 50%: This condition is optimal for ensuring that the system can efficiently manage data reduction processes without adverse effects.

Dell Midrange Storage

Reference:

Dell Unity XT documentation provides clear guidelines on performance tuning and best practices for enabling data reduction.

Additional resources from Dell's community forums and product support pages offer insights into real-world configurations and expert recommendations.

Dell Unity XT Performance Guide

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Community

Dell Storage Produc

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QUESTION: 7

A PowerStore solution must support hosts using 100 Gb/s Eth connectivity and hosts using 16 Gb/s FC connectivity. How should the I/O Modules be populated according to Dell Best Practices?

100 Gb/s Eth I/O Module in Slot 0 and 16 Gb/s FC I/O Module in Slot 1
100 Gb/s Eth I/O Module in Slot 1 and 16 Gb/s FC I/O Module in Slot 0
100 Gb/s Eth and 16 Gb/s FC I/O Modules can be placed into any Slot

Answer(s): A

Explanation:

According to Dell best practices for PowerStore solutions, when supporting hosts that use both 100 Gb/s Ethernet (Eth) connectivity and 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) connectivity, the I/O modules should be populated as follows:

Slot 0: Install the 100 Gb/s Ethernet I/O module. This ensures that the high-speed Ethernet connections are handled by the first slot, which is typically prioritized for network connectivity.

Slot 1: Install the 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel I/O module. This setup leverages the capabilities of the second slot to manage Fibre Channel traffic efficiently.

This configuration ensures optimal performance and adherence to best practices, providing a balanced distribution of network and storage connectivity within the PowerStore system.

Reference:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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QUESTION: 8

Which Dell PowerStore supported media devices carry a FIPS Type D certification?

SAS SCM, NVMe SSD, and NVRAM
SAS HDD, NVMe SSD, NVMe SCM, and SAS SSD
NVMe SCM, NVMe SSD, and SAS SSD
SAS SSD, NVMe SSD, NVMe SCM, and NVRAM

Answer(s): D

Explanation:

Dell PowerStore supports media devices that carry a FIPS Type D certification to ensure data security and compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). The certified media devices include:

SAS SSD: Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Solid State Drives are commonly used in enterprise storage solutions for their reliability and performance.

NVMe SSD: Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Solid State Drives offer high-speed storage access and are optimized for performance.

NVMe SCM: NVMe Storage Class Memory provides a new tier of storage that bridges the gap between DRAM and traditional SSDs, offering both speed and persistence.

NVRAM: Non-Volatile Random Access Memory combines the speed of RAM with the persistence of flash storage, ensuring data is retained even after power loss.

These devices are FIPS Type D certified, ensuring they meet stringent security standards for data protection.

Reference:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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QUESTION: 9

What information must a solution architect gather before they start designing a storage solution?

Application response, LAN, and WAN requirements
Network Infrastructure, Storage, and Customer workload performance requirements
LAN, SAN, and IOPS requirements
LAN, SAN, and Customer workload requirements

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Before designing a storage solution, a solution architect must gather comprehensive information to ensure the system meets the customer's needs. The critical information includes:

Network Infrastructure: Understanding the existing network setup, including LAN and WAN configurations, is essential. This information helps in planning how the storage solution will integrate with the current network and support data traffic efficiently.

Storage Requirements: Detailed knowledge of the storage needs, including capacity, performance, and redundancy requirements, is crucial. This includes understanding the types of data to be stored, the expected data growth, and any specific storage technologies or features the customer may need.

Customer Workload Performance Requirements: Insight into the customer's workload characteristics, such as IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second), throughput, latency requirements, and peak usage times, is vital. This information helps in designing a storage solution that can handle the expected workloads without performance bottlenecks.

By gathering this information, the solution architect can design a tailored storage solution that meets the customer's performance and capacity needs while integrating seamlessly with their existing infrastructure.

Reference:

Dell Technologies PowerStore Documentation

Dell Entry-Level and Mid-Range Storage Community

Dell Storage Products Overview

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QUESTION: 10

A customer has a data center with applications running on 16 volumes that are presented from a Dell Unity XT system. They want to design a DR site within metro distance with zero RPO using storage- based replication. According to Dell best practices, which design approach minimizes the impact on storage performance?

Use multiple ports per controller for replication.
Include a Flash tier in a hybrid pool where synchronous replication is active.
Use Thick volumes within the replication group.
Create the synchronous replication session before filling the source storage object with data.

Answer(s): B

Explanation:

Dell Unity XT and DR Design:

For disaster recovery (DR) within a metro distance and zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO), synchronous replication is the preferred method.

Synchronous replication ensures that data is written to both the source and target volumes simultaneously, which requires high performance to minimize latency.

Best Practices for Minimizing Impact on Performance:

Multiple Ports per Controller: While this can improve throughput, it does not directly minimize the latency impact of synchronous replication.

Flash Tier in Hybrid Pool: Including a flash tier in a hybrid pool enhances performance significantly because flash drives offer lower latency and higher IOPS compared to traditional spinning disks. This is critical for synchronous replication scenarios where performance impact needs to be minimized.

Thick Volumes: Using thick volumes can provide consistent performance, but they do not inherently minimize the impact of synchronous replication.

Synchronous Replication Session: Creating the replication session before filling the source storage object with data is a procedural step and does not address performance during active replication.

Dell Midrange Storage

Reference:

Dell Unity XT best practices emphasize the use of flash tiers in hybrid pools to boost performance for demanding operations, including synchronous replication.

Resources from Dell Technologies' documentation on storage-based replication and performance optimization provide detailed insights.

Dell Unity XT Best Practices

Dell Community on Midrange Storage

Dell Storage Product Information

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Dell D-MSS-DS-23 Exam (page: 2) Dell Midrange Storage Solutions Design 2023 Updated on: 12-Feb-2026

QUESTION: 6

Explanation:

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QUESTION: 7

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QUESTION: 8

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QUESTION: 9

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QUESTION: 10

Explanation:

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Dell D-MSS-DS-23 Exam (page: 2)
Dell Midrange Storage Solutions Design 2023
Updated on: 12-Feb-2026