SPLK-4001 Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Exam Questions and Answers

The correct answer is C. On the chart for plot A, select Add Analytics, then select Mean:Aggregation. In the window that appears, select ‘version’ from the Group By field.

This will create a new plot B that shows the average memory utilization for each version of the application. The engineer can then compare the values of plot B for the ‘canary’ and ‘stable’ versions to see if there is a significant difference.

To learn more about how to use analytics functions in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation1.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/analytics.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.

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

According to the Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Track document1, a single-instance dashboard is a type of dashboard that displays charts and information for a single instance of a service or host. You can use a single-instance dashboard to monitor the performance and health of a specific server, such as the one that is restarting due to power supply issues. You can also create detectors for the metrics that are relevant to the server, such as CPU usage, memory usage, disk usage, and uptime. Therefore, option A is correct.

The correct answer is C. 1 second.

According to the Splunk Test Blueprint - O11y Cloud Metrics User document1, one of the metrics concepts that is covered in the exam is data resolution and rollups. Data resolution refers to the granularity of the metric data points, and rollups are the process of aggregating data points over time to reduce the amount of data stored.

The Splunk O11y Cloud Certified Metrics User Track document2 states that one of the recommended courses for preparing for the exam is Introduction to Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring, which covers the basics of metrics monitoring and visualization.

In the Introduction to Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring course, there is a section on Data Resolution and Rollups, which explains that Splunk Observability Cloud collects high-resolution metrics at 1-second intervals by default, and then applies rollups to reduce the data volume over time. The document also provides a table that shows the different rollup intervals and retention periods for different resolutions.

Therefore, based on these documents, we can conclude that for a high-resolution metric, the highest possible native resolution of the metric is 1 second.

The correct answer is B. /etc/otel/collector/

According to the web search results, the Splunk distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector stores the configuration files on Linux machines in the /etc/otel/collector/ directory by default. You can verify this by looking at the first result1, which explains how to install the Collector for Linux manually. It also provides the locations of the default configuration file, the agent configuration file, and the gateway configuration file.

To learn more about how to install and configure the Splunk distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry/install-linux-manual.html 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/opentelemetry.html

The most likely root cause of the issue is D. The detector has a muting rule.

A muting rule is a way to temporarily stop a detector from sending notifications for certain alerts, without disabling the detector or changing its alert conditions. A muting rule can be useful when you want to avoid alert noise during planned maintenance, testing, or other situations where you expect the metrics to deviate from normal1

When a detector has a muting rule, it will still generate alerts within the Splunk Observability UI, but it will not send email notifications or any other types of notifications that you have configured for the detector. You can see if a detector has a muting rule by looking at the Muting Rules tab on the detector page. You can also create, edit, or delete muting rules from there1

To learn more about how to use muting rules in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation1.

The correct answer is C. Info, Warning, Minor, Major, and Critical.

When creating a standalone detector, you can define one or more rules that specify the alert conditions and the severity level for each rule. The severity level indicates how urgent or important the alert is, and it can also affect the notification settings and the escalation policy for the alert1

Splunk Observability Cloud provides five predefined severity levels that you can choose from when creating a rule: Info, Warning, Minor, Major, and Critical. Each severity level has a different color and icon to help you identify the alert status at a glance. You can also customize the severity levels by changing their names, colors, or icons2

To learn more about how to create standalone detectors and use severity levels in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to these documentations12.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/detectors.html#Create-a-standalone-detector 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/detector-options.html#Severity-levels

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, detectors operate at the native resolution of the metric or dimension that they monitor, with some exceptions for transformations or timeshifts. The native resolution is the frequency at which the data points are reported by the source. For example, if a metric is reported every 10 seconds, the detector will evaluate the metric every 10 seconds. The native resolution ensures that the detector uses the most granular and accurate data available for alerting.

The correct answer is D. Metric type.

A metric type is an optional, but highly recommended field that specifies the kind of measurement that a datapoint represents. For example, a metric type can be gauge, counter, cumulative counter, or histogram. A metric type helps Splunk Observability Cloud to interpret and display the data correctly1

To learn more about how to send metrics to Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation2.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/metrics.html#Metric-types 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/metrics.html

One reason a user of Splunk Observability Cloud would want to subscribe to an alert is C. To receive an email notification when a detector is triggered.

A detector is a component of Splunk Observability Cloud that monitors metrics or events and triggers alerts when certain conditions are met. A user can create and configure detectors to suit their monitoring needs and goals1

A subscription is a way for a user to receive notifications when a detector triggers an alert. A user can subscribe to a detector by entering their email address in the Subscription tab of the detector page. A user can also unsubscribe from a detector at any time2

When a user subscribes to an alert, they will receive an email notification that contains information about the alert, such as the detector name, the alert status, the alert severity, the alert time, and the alert message. The email notification also includes links to view the detector, acknowledge the alert, or unsubscribe from the detector2

To learn more about how to use detectors and subscriptions in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to these documentations12.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/detectors.html 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/alerts-detectors-notifications/subscribe-to-detectors.html

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, to create a detector, you need the following information:

• Alert Signal: This is the metric or dimension that you want to monitor and alert on. You can select a signal from a chart or a dashboard, or enter a SignalFlow query to define the signal.
• Alert Condition: This is the criteria that determines when an alert is triggered or cleared. You can choose from various built-in alert conditions, such as static threshold, dynamic threshold, outlier, missing data, and so on. You can also specify the severity level and the trigger sensitivity for each alert condition.
• Alert Settings: This is the configuration that determines how the detector behaves and interacts with other detectors. You can set the detector name, description, resolution, run lag, max delay, and detector rules. You can also enable or disable the detector, and mute or unmute the alerts.
• Alert Message: This is the text that appears in the alert notification and event feed. You can customize the alert message with variables, such as signal name, value, condition, severity, and so on. You can also use markdown formatting to enhance the message appearance.
• Alert Recipients: This is the list of destinations where you want to send the alert notifications. You can choose from various channels, such as email, Slack, PagerDuty, webhook, and so on. You can also specify the notification frequency and suppression settings.

According to the web search results, properties are key-value pairs that you can assign to dimensions of existing metric time series (MTS) in Splunk Observability Cloud1. Properties provide additional context and information about the metrics, such as the environment, role, or owner of the dimension. For example, you can add the property use: QA to the host dimension of your metrics to indicate that the host that is sending the data is used for QA.

To add properties to MTS, you can use either the API or the UI. The API allows you to programmatically create, update, delete, and list properties for dimensions using HTTP requests2. The UI allows you to interactively create, edit, and delete properties for dimensions using the Metric Metadata page under Settings3. Therefore, option A and D are correct.