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

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

The best practices for creating detectors are:

• View data at highest resolution. This helps to avoid missing important signals or patterns in the data that could indicate anomalies or issues1
• Have a consistent value. This means that the metric or dimension used for detection should have a clear and stable meaning across different sources, contexts, and time periods. For example, avoid using metrics that are affected by changes in configuration, sampling, or aggregation2
• View detector in a chart. This helps to visualize the data and the detector logic, as well as to identify any false positives or negatives. It also allows to adjust the detector parameters and thresholds based on the data distribution and behavior3
• Have a consistent type of measurement. This means that the metric or dimension used for detection should have the same unit and scale across different sources, contexts, and time periods. For example, avoid mixing bytes and bits, or seconds and milliseconds.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/detectors.html#Best-practices-for-detectors 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/detectors.html#Best-practices-for-detectors 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/detectors.html#View-detector-in-a-chart : https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/detectors.html#Best-practices-for-detectors

The correct answer is A. Dimensions.

Dimensions are metadata in the form of key-value pairs that are sent along with the metrics at the time of ingest. They provide additional information about the metric, such as the name of the host that sent the metric, or the location of the server. Along with the metric name, they uniquely identify a metric time series (MTS)1

Changes to dimensions result in a new MTS, because they create a different combination of metric name and dimensions. For example, if you change the hostname dimension from host1 to host2, you will create a new MTS for the same metric name1

Properties, sources, and tags are other types of metadata that can be applied to existing MTSes after ingest. They do not contribute to uniquely identify an MTS, and they do not create a new MTS when changed2

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

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

The correct answer is B. Add a filter to narrow the scope of the measurement.

A filter is a way to reduce the number of metric time series (MTS) that are displayed on a chart or used in a detector. A filter specifies one or more dimensions and values that the MTS must have in order to be included. For example, if you want to monitor the memory.free metric only for hosts that belong to a certain cluster, you can add a filter like cluster:my-cluster to the plot or detector. This will exclude any MTS that do not have the cluster dimension or have a different value for it1

Adding a filter can help you avoid exceeding the plot cap, which is the maximum number of MTS that can be contained in a single plot. The plot cap is 100,000 by default, but it can be changed by contacting Splunk Support2

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

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/search.html#Filter-metrics 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/detectors.html#Plot-cap 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/search.html

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

According to the Splunk Observability Cloud documentation1, the maximum function is an analytic function that returns the highest value of a metric or a dimension over a specified time interval. The maximum function can be used as a transformation or an aggregation. A transformation applies the function to each metric time series (MTS) individually, while an aggregation applies the function to all MTS and returns a single value. For example, to discover the peak page visits for a site over the last day, you can use the following SignalFlow code:

maximum(24h, counters(“page.visits”))

This will return the highest value of the page.visits counter metric for each MTS over the last 24 hours. You can then use a chart to visualize the results and identify the peak page visits for each MTS.

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

The correct answer is C. 401 (UNAUTHORIZED).

According to the web search results, a 401 (UNAUTHORIZED) error message is indicative that there is a misconfigured realm or access token when installing OpenTelemetry Collector1. A 401 (UNAUTHORIZED) error message means that the request was not authorized by the server due to invalid credentials. A realm is a parameter that specifies the scope of protection for a resource, such as a Splunk Observability Cloud endpoint. An access token is a credential that grants access to a resource, such as a Splunk Observability Cloud API. If the realm or the access token is misconfigured, the request to install OpenTelemetry Collector will be rejected by the server with a 401 (UNAUTHORIZED) error message.

Option A is incorrect because a 403 (NOT ALLOWED) error message is not indicative that there is a misconfigured realm or access token when installing OpenTelemetry Collector. A 403 (NOT ALLOWED) error message means that the request was authorized by the server but not allowed due to insufficient permissions. Option B is incorrect because a 404 (NOT FOUND) error message is not indicative that there is a misconfigured realm or access token when installing OpenTelemetry Collector. A 404 (NOT FOUND) error message means that the request was not found by the server due to an invalid URL or resource. Option D is incorrect because a 503 (SERVICE UNREACHABLE) error message is not indicative that there is a misconfigured realm or access token when installing OpenTelemetry Collector. A 503 (SERVICE UNREACHABLE) error message means that the server was unable to handle the request due to temporary overload or maintenance.

The chart visualization types that are unaffected by changing the time picker on a dashboard are:

• Single Value: A single value chart shows the current value of a metric or an expression. It does not depend on the time range of the dashboard, but only on the data resolution and rollup function of the chart1
• List: A list chart shows the values of a metric or an expression for each dimension value in a table format. It does not depend on the time range of the dashboard, but only on the data resolution and rollup function of the chart2

Therefore, the correct answer is A and D.

To learn more about how to use different chart visualization types in Splunk Observability Cloud, you can refer to this documentation3.

1: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#Single-value 2: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html#List 3: https://docs.splunk.com/Observability/gdi/metrics/charts.html

According to the web search results1, subscribing to a built-in detector is a way to receive alerts and notifications from Splunk Observability Cloud when certain criteria are met. A built-in detector is a detector that is automatically created and configured by Splunk Observability Cloud based on the data from your integrations, such as AWS, Kubernetes, or OpenTelemetry1. To subscribe to a built-in detector, you need to do the following steps:

• Find the built-in detector that you want to subscribe to. You can use the metric finder or the dashboard groups to locate the built-in detectors that are relevant to your data sources1.
• Hover over the built-in detector and click the Subscribe button. This will open a dialog box where you can configure your subscription settings1.
• Choose an outbound notification channel from the drop-down menu. This is where you can specify how you want to receive the alert notifications from the built-in detector. You can choose from various channels, such as email, Slack, PagerDuty, webhook, and so on2. You can also create a new notification channel by clicking the + icon2.
• Enter the notification details for the selected channel. This may include your email address, Slack channel name, PagerDuty service key, webhook URL, and so on2. You can also customize the notification message with variables and markdown formatting2.
• Click Save. This will subscribe you to the built-in detector and send you alert notifications through the chosen channel when the detector triggers or clears an alert.

Therefore, option C is correct.

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 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

According to the Splunk Test Blueprint - O11y Cloud Metrics User document1, one of the metrics concepts that is covered in the exam is analytic functions. Analytic functions are mathematical operations that can be applied to metrics to transform, aggregate, or analyze them.

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 Analytic Functions, which explains that analytic functions can be used to perform calculations on metrics, such as sum, average, min, max, count, etc. The document also provides examples of how to use analytic functions in charts and dashboards.

One of the analytic functions that can be used is Sum Aggregation, which calculates the sum of values present in the input time series across the entire environment or per group. The document gives an example of how to use Sum Aggregation to calculate the total CPU usage across all hosts in a group by using the following syntax:

sum(cpu.utilization) by hostgroup