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Key Facts: FlashArray Architect Professional Exam
60
Exam Questions
FAAP_004 exam guide
120 min
Time Limit
FAAP_004 exam guide
$129
Exam Fee (USD)
Pure Storage ExamStudio
36/24/40
Domain Weights
Design / Platform / Advanced Mgmt
2 yrs
Validity
Pure certification policy
11 ms
ActiveCluster Max RTT
Pure Storage docs
The Pure Storage FlashArray Architect Professional (FAAP_004) is a partner-track pre-sales architect certification with a 60-question, 120-minute online-proctored exam administered through ExamStudio for $129 USD. The exam is weighted Design and Plan 36%, Platform Architecture 24%, and Advanced Storage Management and Performance 40%, covering FlashArray sizing, ActiveCluster and ActiveDR, SafeMode, DirectFlash, Purity//FA architecture, Protection Groups and Pods, QoS, RBAC, FA File, and ecosystem integrations with VMware, Microsoft, and Oracle. Pure recommends 3-5 years of storage industry experience and 1-2 years on Pure Storage. The credential is valid for 2 years.
Sample FlashArray Architect Professional Practice Questions
Try these sample questions to review concepts for the FlashArray Architect Professional exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.
1A customer has 60 TB of Oracle databases (3:1 reduction), 100 TB of virtual server data (5:1), and 70 TB of virtual desktop data (7:1). No application-level compression or encryption is used. What minimum FlashArray usable capacity should be sized?
2Which Pure Storage tool is used by partner SEs to model FlashArray configurations against customer workload data?
3What does "effective capacity" mean in FlashArray sizing terminology?
4A customer wants to refresh their FlashArray every three years without forklift upgrades or data migrations. Which Pure Storage commercial program directly delivers this outcome?
5A customer requires synchronous replication with zero RPO between two data centers 50 km apart on dedicated low-latency fiber. Which Pure Storage technology should an architect propose?
6What is the maximum supported round-trip latency between the two arrays in an ActiveCluster pair?
7A customer needs near-zero RPO continuous replication across a metro area where round-trip latency is 25 ms. Which Pure technology fits?
8A pharmaceutical customer has a hard ransomware-recovery requirement: once a snapshot is taken, no admin (including a compromised root account) should be able to delete it for 14 days. Which feature meets this?
9Which statement most accurately describes RAID-HA on FlashArray?
10A customer expects 30% annual data growth and currently uses 60 TB usable. Approximately how much usable capacity should the architect plan for in 24 months, before any reduction?
About the FlashArray Architect Professional Exam
The Pure Storage FlashArray Architect Professional (FAAP_004) is a partner-track pre-sales architect certification that validates advanced expertise in designing FlashArray solutions. Candidates demonstrate the ability to architect FlashArray configurations against complex customer requirements, position the FlashArray portfolio (//X, //C, //E, //XL), design HA/DR with ActiveCluster, ActiveDR, snapshot replication, CloudSnap, and SafeMode, explain the Purity//FA I/O path and DirectFlash, and perform advanced storage management including Protection Groups, Pods, QoS, SafeMode, RBAC, and integrations with VMware (vVols, VAAI, SRA), Microsoft (VSS, ODX), and Oracle (ASM).
Exam sponsor: Pure Storage / online proctored (ExamStudio). The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.
Assessment
60 multiple-choice questions distributed across three domains: Design and Plan (36%), Platform Architecture (24%), and Advanced Storage Management and Performance (40%); questions present 3-5 options with one, two, or three correct answers and no partial credit
Time Limit
120 minutes
Passing Score
Not publicly disclosed (commonly cited near 70%)
Reported exam pass rate: Pure Storage does not publicly report pass rates. Exam sponsor website
Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.
Our practice resources: topics covered
We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.
Design and Plan
Sizing with Pure1 Workload Planner, raw vs usable vs effective capacity, workload-specific data reduction (OLTP, OLAP, VDI, containers, mixed VM), HA/DR design with ActiveCluster (synchronous, ≤11 ms RTT) and ActiveDR (continuous async), snapshot replication, CloudSnap to S3/Azure, SafeMode for ransomware, RPO/RTO planning, FlashArray family positioning (//X, //C, //E, //XL, legacy //M), Evergreen subscription tiers (//Foundation, //Forever, //Flex, //One), non-disruptive expansion, and virtualization/cloud integration
Platform Architecture
Active/active controllers, NVRAM mirroring, DirectFlash modules vs commodity SSDs, NVMe vs SAS/SATA queues and command set, Purity//FA inline data reduction pipeline (pattern removal → deduplication → compression → AES-256 XTS encryption), I/O write path, RAID-HA with global wear-leveling, Non-Disruptive Upgrades (controller-by-controller), supported transports (FC, FC-NVMe, NVMe-RoCEv2 with PFC/ECN, NVMe-TCP, iSCSI), and Pure1 Meta SaaS management
Advanced Storage Management and Performance
Protection Groups (consistency, schedules, retention) and Pods (sync/async replication units), snapshot operations and eradication-pending recovery, ActiveCluster Stretched Pod with Mediator, ActiveDR pod replication, async replication partnerships, QoS bandwidth/IOPS limits, SafeMode (Default vs Array-Wide) with multi-party authorization, RBAC roles (Read Only / Storage Admin / Array Admin) with AD/LDAP and SAML SSO, FA File (SMB/NFS, file VIF, LACP trunking, .snapshot/Previous Versions), performance and latency decomposition (SAN/array/QoS/total), and integrations (VMware VAAI/vVols/SRA, Microsoft VSS/ODX, Oracle ASM, SQL Server Always On)
Preparing for the FlashArray Architect Professional Exam
What You Need to Know
- Passing score: Not publicly disclosed (commonly cited near 70%)
- Assessment: 60 multiple-choice questions distributed across three domains: Design and Plan (36%), Platform Architecture (24%), and Advanced Storage Management and Performance (40%); questions present 3-5 options with one, two, or three correct answers and no partial credit
- Time limit: 120 minutes
- Exam / certification fees: $129 Official sources
Using Our Practice Resources
- Work through all 100 available questions
- Review every answer and explanation
- Track weak areas and revisit them
- Use our AI tutor for tough concepts
FlashArray Architect Professional: Suggested Study Strategy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Pure Storage FlashArray Architect Professional (FAAP_004) exam?
The FlashArray Architect Professional (FAAP_004) is Pure Storage's partner-track pre-sales architect certification. It validates a Systems Engineer's advanced ability to design FlashArray solutions, including sizing, HA/DR with ActiveCluster and ActiveDR, ransomware resilience with SafeMode, the Purity//FA architecture and DirectFlash, and integrations with VMware, Microsoft, and Oracle.
How many questions are on the FlashArray Architect Professional exam, and how long is it?
The exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions and has a 120-minute time limit. Questions present 3-5 options with one, two, or three correct answers, and there is no partial credit. Domain weights are Design and Plan 36%, Platform Architecture 24%, and Advanced Storage Management and Performance 40%.
How much does the FlashArray Architect Professional exam cost?
The exam fee is $129 USD per attempt, paid at registration through Pure's ExamStudio storefront. The exam is delivered online with ProctorU; you must provide a government-issued photo ID and meet ProctorU's environment, webcam, and microphone requirements.
What is the passing score for the FAAP_004 exam?
Pure Storage does not publicly disclose the FAAP_004 passing score. The Pure exam guide states that one point is awarded per correct answer to single- and multi-response questions, with no points for incorrect or unanswered items, and that no partial credit is awarded. Plan to score well above the typical 70% benchmark to leave headroom.
How long is the FlashArray Architect Professional certification valid?
The credential is valid for 2 years from the date of issue. To renew, you must pass the current version of the FlashArray Architect Professional exam before expiration.
What experience does Pure recommend before attempting this exam?
Pure's exam guide describes the minimally qualified candidate as having 3-5 years of storage industry experience and 1-2 years specifically working with Pure Storage. While there are no formal prerequisites, Pure also recommends successfully completing the FlashArray Architect Associate exam first.
What topics should I focus on most when studying?
Advanced Storage Management and Performance is the largest domain at 40% — concentrate on Protection Groups, Pods, ActiveCluster, ActiveDR, SafeMode, QoS, RBAC, VMware/Microsoft/Oracle integrations, and performance/latency analysis. Then cover Design and Plan (36%): sizing, capacity terminology, and HA/DR design. Platform Architecture (24%) — DirectFlash, the I/O path, RAID-HA, and NDUs — has fewer questions but is foundational.