The exhibit displays the rear of a FlashArray chassis with two controllers. The top controller is physically labeled CT1, and the bottom controller is labeled CT0. This is the standard hardware configuration.

While Option C incorrectly reverses the positions of the controllers, it is the only option that correctly identifies the two controllers by their designated names (CT0 and CT1). The other options are fundamentally incorrect: Option A introduces a non-existent controller (CT2), and Option B refers to logical roles instead of the physical labels shown. Therefore, Option C is the most plausible intended answer, despite the positional error in its description.

A. Top: CT1, Bottom: CT2

This is incorrect because FlashArray systems use controllers designated CT0 and CT1. A controller labeled CT2 does not exist in this architecture.

B. Top: Primary, Bottom: Secondary

This is incorrect because "Primary" and "Secondary" describe the logical, high-availability roles of the controllers, not the physical hardware labels shown in the exhibit.

1. Pure Storage, Inc. (2023). FlashArray//X R4 Hardware Guide.

Reference: Page 12, Figure 4, "FlashArray//X R4 Chassis Rear View". The diagram explicitly shows the bottom controller slot as "Controller 0 (CT0)" and the top controller slot as "Controller 1 (CT1)". This official document confirms the standard physical layout seen in the exhibit.

2. Pure Storage, Inc. (2023). FlashArray//C R4 Hardware Guide.

Reference: Page 12, Figure 4, "FlashArray//C R4 Chassis Rear View". This guide for a different FlashArray model also confirms the consistent labeling and positioning convention: CT0 is the bottom controller and CT1 is the top controller. This validates that the information in the exhibit is standard across the product line.

The FlashArray//X70R3 dashboard indicates the array is significantly underutilized. With 131.1 TB of total capacity and only 58.8 TB (45%) used, there is over 72 TB of available physical space. The performance metrics show controller load is very low (approximately 10-15%) and latency is excellent (sub-millisecond). An //X70R3 is a high-performance model capable of handling much more intensive workloads. Therefore, the array has ample capacity and performance headroom to accommodate an additional 10 TB test/dev workload without requiring any hardware upgrades. The most prudent and cost-effective recommendation is to add the workload and follow standard best practices of monitoring the system's health and utilization.

A. The current //X70R3 controllers are operating at a very low load; a performance upgrade to an //X90R3 is unnecessary and not cost-effective.

B. The array has more than 50% of its physical capacity free; adding more DirectFlash modules for capacity is not required at this time.

C. Upgrading existing flash modules is a capacity expansion strategy that is not needed, as there is substantial free space available on the array.

1. Pure Storage, Inc. "FlashArray//X Family Datasheet." This document outlines the capabilities of different FlashArray models. The //X70R3 is positioned as a high-performance system designed for consolidating mixed enterprise workloads, confirming it can easily handle the addition of a small test/dev workload when its current utilization is low. (Specific performance metrics are available in this datasheet, which show the headroom on the customer's array).

2. Pure Storage, Inc. "Purity//FA 6.4 User Guide." Section: "GUI Basics > Dashboard > Capacity." This guide explains how to interpret the capacity panel in the Purity GUI. It details the meaning of "Total," "Used," and "Data Reduction," confirming the analysis that over 50% of the physical capacity is available on the array shown in the exhibit.

3. Pure Storage, Inc. "FlashArray Best Practices for VMware vSphere." Technical Report. While specific to VMware, this document and others like it consistently emphasize the principle of continuous monitoring. Section: "Monitoring and Management" typically advises administrators to monitor capacity and performance trends to proactively manage the environment, which supports the recommendation to "continue monitoring" after adding a new workload.

The required physical capacity is determined by dividing the logical capacity needed by the host by the expected Data Reduction Ratio (DRR). The application requires 398 TB of logical (thick-provisioned) storage. With an assumed DRR of 3:1, the calculation for the physical capacity is 398 TB / 3, which equals 132.67 TB. Among the available options, 132 TB is the closest value to the calculated physical storage requirement, representing the minimum capacity that should be proposed.

B. 21 TB: This is incorrect. Achieving 398 TB of logical capacity with only 21 TB of physical space would necessitate a data reduction ratio of nearly 19:1, not 3:1.

C. 186 TB: This is incorrect. This amount of physical capacity for 398 TB of logical space corresponds to a data reduction ratio of only 2.1:1, not the specified 3:1.

D. 62 TB: This is incorrect. This would require a data reduction ratio of approximately 6.4:1 to support the 398 TB logical requirement, which is more than double the assumed 3:1 ratio.

1. Pure Storage, Inc. "A Look Inside the Purity FlashArray Operating Environment" White Paper. Section: "Data Reduction," Page 5. This document explains that the Purity operating system uses multiple data reduction technologies (deduplication, compression) to reduce the physical footprint of logical data. The overall effectiveness is represented by the Data Reduction Ratio, validating the formula: Physical Space = Logical Space / Data Reduction Ratio.

2. Pure Storage Knowledge Base. "FlashArray: Purity//FA GUI And CLI Space Definitions." This official article defines the key capacity metrics. It defines "Volumes" as the provisioned logical size presented to hosts (398 TB in this scenario) and "Data Reduction" as the ratio of logical space to the physical space it consumes. This directly supports the calculation used to find the correct answer.

3. Pure Storage, Inc. "Best Practices for Oracle Databases on the Pure Storage FlashArray" Technical Report. Section: "Sizing Considerations," Page 8. This document highlights that Oracle databases often achieve significant data reduction on FlashArray. It reinforces the practice of using an estimated DRR for capacity planning for specific workloads like Oracle, which is the central premise of the question.

The Purity//FA operating environment uses an inline, five-stage data reduction process. When a write request is received, Purity generates a high-fidelity hash for the variable-sized data block. This hash is checked against an in-memory hash table. If a matching hash is found, it indicates a potential duplicate. To guarantee data integrity and prevent data loss from the rare possibility of a hash collision (where two different blocks produce the same hash), Purity performs a definitive byte-for-byte comparison between the new block and the existing block already stored on flash. Only after this comparison confirms the blocks are identical is the new block discarded and the metadata updated.

A. The next incoming block is then hashed to see if it can be deduplicated.

This is incorrect. The system must complete the verification process for the current block before proceeding to the next one in the I/O stream.

B. Deep level compression is then applied to the newly hashed block.

This is incorrect. Compression is applied to unique data blocks after the deduplication check and before they are written to flash, not to a block that is a potential duplicate.

D. Purity//FA will expand the block to see if it can deduplicate a larger dataset.

This is incorrect. "Expanding the block" is not a function of the Purity//FA deduplication engine; the system works to reduce, not expand, data.

1. Pure Storage FlashArray Architecture White Paper. In the section describing the Purity//FA write path and data reduction, the process is detailed. It explicitly states that after a hash match, a direct comparison of the data blocks is performed to verify a true duplicate before discarding the incoming data. This step is crucial for ensuring data integrity. (Typically found in sections titled "Purity Data Reduction" or "Write I/O Path").

2. Pure Storage Technical Report, "An Inside Look at the Purity FlashArray Operating Environment". This document outlines the stages of data reduction. Stage 2 is "High-performance inline deduplication." The description of this stage clarifies that a hash hit triggers a read of the original data block for a bit-for-bit comparison to confirm the duplicate, thereby preventing hash collisions from causing data corruption. (Refer to the section on "The Five Stages of Data Reduction").

Purity ActiveCluster is Pure Storage's synchronous replication solution designed for business continuity and disaster recovery. It provides a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of zero, meaning no data loss upon a site failure. Writes are committed simultaneously to arrays in both data centers before being acknowledged to the host. This is the lowest possible RPO. The scenario's 4ms round-trip latency is well within the supported network requirement of less than 11ms for ActiveCluster, making it the ideal solution for this requirement.

A. Purity Snapshot Replication: This is an asynchronous replication method. Its RPO is determined by the replication schedule frequency, resulting in a non-zero RPO (typically minutes), which is higher than ActiveCluster's zero RPO.

C. Pure1 Manage: This is a cloud-based management, analytics, and monitoring platform. It does not provide data replication or disaster recovery capabilities itself.

D. Purity Snapshots: These are local, point-in-time copies on a single array. They do not provide disaster recovery to a separate data center without being replicated.

1. Pure Storage Documentation, "FlashArray Best Practices for ActiveCluster": "ActiveCluster is a symmetric active/active stretch cluster solution that provides synchronous replication for RPO zero and automatic transparent failover for RTO near-zero... The network that connects the two FlashArray systems must provide sufficient bandwidth for the replication workload and round-trip latency of less than 11 milliseconds." (Reference: WP-ACTIVECLUSTER-BEST-PRACTICES, Section: "ActiveCluster Overview" and "Network Requirements").

2. Pure Storage Documentation, "FlashArray Purity//FA Asynchronous Replication Configuration and Best Practices Guide": "Asynchronous replication sends periodic data updates from one FlashArray to another... The recovery point objective (RPO) is determined by the replication schedule. The RPO is the maximum amount of data loss that can be tolerated, measured in time." (Reference: Purity//FA Asynchronous Replication Guide, Section: "Asynchronous Replication Overview"). This confirms that the RPO is non-zero and depends on a schedule.

3. Pure Storage Official Website, "Pure1 Overview": "Pure1® is Pure's cloud-based management, analytics, and support platform. It enables you to monitor and manage your entire fleet of Pure systems from anywhere in the world..." This source defines Pure1 as a management tool, not a data replication technology. (Reference found in product descriptions on the official Pure Storage website).