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100+ Free FASS Practice Questions

Pass your Everpure Certified FlashArray Support Specialist (FASS) exam on the first try — instant access, no signup required.

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What is the purpose of a Pure Storage Dark Site alert configuration?

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2026 Statistics

Key Facts: FASS Exam

60

Exam Questions

Multiple-choice format

120 min

Time Limit

Online proctored via ExamStudio

$300

Exam Fee

Per attempt

Purity//FA 6.9.x

Target Version

Per Jan 2026 FASS study guide

30% / 28%

Top Domains

Performance and Software

11 ms

Max ActiveCluster RTT

Pure best practice

The Everpure Certified FlashArray Support Specialist (FASS) is Pure Storage's specialist credential for root-level FlashArray support. The exam runs 120 minutes with 60 multiple-choice questions and costs $300 USD through online proctoring on ExamStudio. Content is weighted Hardware 10%, Software 28%, Networking 15%, Performance 30%, and Replication 17%, aligned to Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x per the January 2026 study guide. Pure recommends 1-2 years of hands-on FlashArray experience.

Sample FASS Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to test your FASS exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1Which Purity//FA CLI command lists the overall array health, controller state, and software version on a FlashArray?
A.purehw list
B.purearray list
C.pureservice list
D.puredb list
Explanation: purearray list returns the array name, ID, OS (Purity//FA) version, and high-level array status. Support engineers run it first to confirm what controller pair and Purity version they are working with before any deeper troubleshooting.
2A Support Specialist needs to enumerate every physical hardware component on a FlashArray, including controllers, NVRAM modules, DirectFlash modules, fans, and PSUs. Which command should be used?
A.purearray list --all
B.purehw list
C.puredrive list --total
D.pureservice list
Explanation: purehw list enumerates every hardware component the controller can see (CT0/CT1, NVRAM, DFM drives, IOMs, PSUs, fans, SFPs, ports) along with status, serial, and slot. It is the canonical hardware inventory and health view.
3A FlashArray alert reports 'Drive failure detected' with details stating 'Slow link speed'. Which is a likely cause that a Support Specialist should investigate first?
A.Failed cable to a DirectFlash shelf
B.A FlashModule that needs to be reseated
C.Bad pci_link status caused by a failed NVMe-oF PCIe card
D.An expired Management SSL certificate
Explanation: Per the Pure Storage FASS study guide, a 'Drive failure detected / Slow link speed' alert most often indicates a FlashModule (DFM) that has lost full-speed negotiation and simply needs to be reseated. The DFM typically returns to full link speed and clears the alert after a clean reseat.
4Which CLI command will display per-drive degraded data so a Support Specialist can confirm rebuild status during a hardware replacement?
A.puredb list drives
B.puredrive list --total
C.purehw list --drives
D.purearray list --drives
Explanation: Per the FASS study guide, puredb list drives is the CLI that exposes degraded data per drive. Support Specialists use it to confirm that the array has finished rebuilding parity onto a replacement DirectFlash module before clearing a case.
5A FlashArray DirectFlash Shelf needs its shelf ID changed because two shelves share the same ID after a chassis swap. Which approach matches Pure Storage guidance?
A.Pull and reseat the shelf to force ID renegotiation
B.Use the Changing the Shelf ID procedure with Pure Support oversight
C.Reflash the shelf controller firmware from the GUI
D.Manually edit the shelf ID file in /var on each controller
Explanation: Pure publishes a Knowledge Base 'Changing the Shelf ID' procedure that is run with Pure Support oversight. Shelf IDs must be unique on a single FlashArray, and the documented procedure makes the change without disrupting in-flight I/O.
6Before performing a shelf evacuation on a FlashArray, what must a Support Specialist confirm?
A.That all hosts have been disconnected from the array
B.That the array has enough remaining capacity to absorb the data on the target shelf without exceeding safe utilization
C.That a controller failover has just completed
D.That CloudSnap is paused on every protection group
Explanation: Shelf evacuation moves all data off the target shelf onto remaining storage in the array. Before starting, the Specialist must verify the array has enough free capacity to hold the evacuated data without going over a safe utilization threshold; otherwise the evacuation will stall or fail.
7What is the purpose of a Pure Storage Dark Site alert configuration?
A.It throttles array I/O during firmware updates
B.It sends array alerts to a customer-managed destination because phone-home to Pure cloud is not allowed at that site
C.It encrypts the management interface using customer-supplied keys
D.It quarantines volumes during a ransomware event
Explanation: Dark Site customers operate in air-gapped environments where the array cannot phone home to Pure1. Dark Site alerts route hardware and software signals to customer-managed SMTP/SNMP/Syslog targets so the local team can respond, since smart signals cannot reach Pure Support automatically.
8A Support Specialist needs to read raw frequent-diagnostics data from FlashArray logs and cloud sources, with output in JSON for further parsing. Which command does this?
A.fa dump bundle
B.fa dump fdiag
C.fa dump mw
D.purearray list --diag
Explanation: fa dump fdiag reads the raw frequent diagnostics ('fdiag') from FlashArray logs and cloud sources and emits JSON, per the FASS study guide sample. Support engineers use this output for offline analysis and to feed scripts that look for known signatures.
9Which CLI verifies the current negotiated link speed on an iSCSI Ethernet interface so a Support Specialist can confirm that 25/100 GbE auto-negotiation succeeded?
A.purehw list --all | grep ETH
B.purenetwork eth list
C.ethtool -S ethX
D.purearray list --network
Explanation: Per the FASS study guide, purehw list --all | grep ETH returns each Ethernet port with its current negotiated link speed and operational state. Support uses this to confirm a 25/100 GbE iSCSI link is up at the expected rate after a cable, SFP, or switch change.
10A Support Specialist needs to verify chassis manager mastership during a controller event referenced by Alert 73. Which subsystem is this alert about?
A.The controller pair election that names a single chassis manager master
B.The DirectFlash module wear-leveling controller
C.The Pure1 cloud telemetry endpoint
D.The FA File NFS daemon
Explanation: Alert 73 covers Chassis Manager Mastership Failure: only one controller can hold mastership of the chassis manager at a time. When mastership cannot be established, hardware management actions (e.g., LED control, sensor polling) become unreliable and the alert fires.

About the FASS Exam

The Everpure Certified FlashArray Support Specialist (FASS) credential validates root-level support skills on Pure Storage FlashArray. The exam targets internal Pure Support Specialists, partner Support Specialists, and Dark Site customers with root access. It tests hardware health validation (purearray, purehw, pureservice), Purity//FA 6.9.x software operations (volumes, protection groups, snapshots, hosts, host groups, SafeMode, write groups, Pure Fusion), networking (FC, iSCSI, NVMe-TCP, FA File, certificates), performance troubleshooting (driver-stall stages, slow drain, CTIO timeouts, QoS, system space), and replication (async via CONNECTION, ActiveCluster, ActiveDR, CloudSnap).

Assessment

60 multiple-choice questions covering Hardware (10%), Software (28%), Networking (15%), Performance (30%), and Replication (17%) on Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x

Time Limit

120 minutes

Passing Score

Not publicly stated (commonly ~70%)

Exam Fee

$300 USD (Pure Storage / online proctored (ExamStudio))

FASS Exam Content Outline

10%

Hardware

Hardware health validation, Dark Site alerts, smart signals, shelf evacuations and shelf adds, Changing the Shelf ID, controller failover, Alert 73 Chassis Manager Mastership, drive parity, fa dump fdiag, and operational troubleshooting commands (purearray, purehw, pureservice, puredb)

28%

Software

Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x features, purevol/pureprotectiongroup/pureschedule/puresnap/purehost/purehgroup, RBAC (Array/Storage/Ops Admin), SafeMode and ransomware-resistant snapshot eradication, NVRAM journaling, always-on dedup and compression, write-group quorum, Pure Fusion V2 fleet coordinator with 45-day certificate grace, EMS self-service upgrades, FMM TuneUp, host personality

15%

Networking

FC zoning and SFP stats, NPIV best practices, iSCSI and NVMe-TCP transports, MTU 9000 jumbo frames, FA File VIFs and LACP bonds, FA File Kerberos for NFSv4.1, SMB/AD authentication, DNS validation, IPv4/IPv6 management addressing, Management/SSL certificates with purecert, FlashArray TCP/UDP port assignments, replication networking best practices

30%

Performance

Driver-stall stage interpretation (cmd_to_alloc, alloc_done_to_exec, exec_done_to_dropoff), SAN vs service vs queue latency, lookaside (cache-aside) usage, large I/O size requests, FC slow drain and CTIO Timeout (Alert 5002), QoS rate limiting via purehgroup --bandwidth-limit/--iops-limit, Pure1 and FlashArray OpenMetrics Exporter, top-talker noisy-neighbor analysis, ESXi PSP_RR with IOPS=1, host-side multipath tuning, system space, Alert 10036 Excessive Pinned Space

17%

Replication

Async replication via purearray connection and protection groups, ActiveCluster synchronous active/active with mediator and preferred-array (recommended max 11ms RTT), ActiveCluster Pre-Election and Purity upgrade scheduling, ActiveDR pod-based near-zero RPO replication with promote/demote, CloudSnap (full then incremental) and SnapToNFS transition, Alert 51 Protection Group Replication Delayed, Protection Group Disallowed remediation on the target array

How to Pass the FASS Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Not publicly stated (commonly ~70%)
  • Assessment: 60 multiple-choice questions covering Hardware (10%), Software (28%), Networking (15%), Performance (30%), and Replication (17%) on Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x
  • Time limit: 120 minutes
  • Exam fee: $300 USD

Keys to Passing

  • Complete 500+ practice questions
  • Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
  • Focus on highest-weighted sections
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

FASS Study Tips from Top Performers

1Memorize the role of each top-level CLI: purearray (array identity and remote connections), purehw (physical components), pureservice (services), puredb (low-level diagnostics), purevol/pureprotectiongroup/puresnap (data services), purehost/purehgroup (connectivity), purenetwork (interfaces), purecert (certificates)
2Practice reading core.log driver-stall stages: large alloc_done_to_exec points to SAN-side or host-side latency (host filling buffer slowly), not array service time
3Know the alert numbers: Alert 51 (Protection Group Replication Delayed), Alert 73 (Chassis Manager Mastership Failure), Alert 5002 (CTIO Timeout), Alert 5056 (NVRAM Undercharged), Alert 10036 (Excessive Pinned Space)
4Memorize the ActiveCluster RTT budget (max 11ms) and the role of mediator + preferred array; remember the cloud mediator does NOT respond to ICMP - failed pings are not the diagnostic
5Learn the Pure Fusion V2 detail: when the fleet coordinator is offline, certificate rotation is delayed but existing certificates remain valid for a 45-day grace period
6Practice host-side best practices: ESXi uses VMW_PSP_RR with IOPS=1; iSCSI/NVMe-TCP storage VLANs use MTU 9000 end-to-end; FC slow drain on a single edge switch is a textbook CTIO timeout pattern

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Everpure FlashArray Support Specialist (FASS) certification?

FASS is Pure Storage's specialist-level credential for root-level FlashArray support engineers. It validates that the holder can troubleshoot Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x hardware, software, networking, performance, and replication issues. Pure targets it at internal Pure Support, partner Support, and Dark Site customers who hold root access on the array.

How many questions are on the FASS exam and what is the passing score?

The FASS exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions delivered through online proctoring on ExamStudio with a 120-minute time limit. Pure Storage does not publish the official passing score, but specialist exams are commonly scaled around 70%. The exam costs $300 USD per attempt.

Which Purity versions does the FASS exam target?

Per the January 2026 FASS Study Guide, the latest exam questions are written to Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x. Existing items from earlier Purity versions remain in the pool wherever the underlying behavior still applies, so candidates should be comfortable across recent generations.

What topics are weighted highest on the FASS exam?

Performance is the largest domain at 30% and covers driver-stall stage analysis (alloc_done_to_exec), FC slow drain and CTIO timeouts, QoS rate limiting, system space, and host-side multipath tuning. Software is next at 28% and covers Purity//FA CLI (purevol, pureprotectiongroup, purehost), SafeMode, write groups, and Pure Fusion. Hardware is 10%, Networking 15%, and Replication 17%.

How much hands-on Pure Storage experience should I have before taking FASS?

Pure recommends a minimum of 1-2 years of hands-on Pure Storage experience at root-level array access. The exam is heavy on real CLI commands (purearray, purehw, pureservice, purevol, pureprotectiongroup, purehgroup, purehost) and on interpreting actual log output such as core.log driver-stall stages.

How is FASS different from FAIS or FASP?

FASS is the support-engineer credential focused on root-cause troubleshooting on FlashArray. FAIS (Implementation Specialist) focuses on deploying FlashArray, and FASP (FlashArray Specialist) covers broader administration and design. FASS dives deepest into operational signals: Dark Site alerts, smart signals to Pure Support, support bundles, and FA tools.

What replication topics should I focus on for FASS?

Replication is 17% of the exam. Cover async replication using purearray connection and protection groups, ActiveCluster (synchronous, active/active, with cloud or on-premises mediator and a preferred-array setting), ActiveDR (pod-based near-zero RPO with promote/demote), CloudSnap (initial full then incremental), Alert 51 Protection Group Replication Delayed, and remediating a 'Protection Group Disallowed' alert from the target array.