100+ Free Pure Migration Specialist Practice Questions

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A Migration Architect must migrate a 500 TB NFSv3 filesystem containing millions of small files between two FlashBlades, optimizing for the fastest final sync to minimize cutover downtime. Which approach is best?

robocopy /MIR

rsync from a Linux jump host

PARSEC appliance

FlashBlade native file replication

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2026 Statistics

Key Facts: Pure Migration Specialist Exam

Exam Questions

Multiple-choice via ExamStudio

120 min

Time Limit

Online proctored

$300

Exam Fee

Per attempt (USD)

5 domains

Weighted Sections

Concepts 33% / Troubleshooting 23% / Methodology 15% / Network 15% / Virtualization 13%

5+ yrs

Recommended Experience

Migration industry plus 2+ years on Pure

Purity 6.9.x / 4.5.x

Current Item Bank

FlashArray 6.9.x and FlashBlade 4.5.x

The Everpure Certified Migration Specialist (MS) is Pure Storage's specialist-tier migration credential. Note the official name uses 'Specialist', not 'Expert'. The exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions, runs 120 minutes, and costs $300 USD via online proctoring (ExamStudio). Pure recommends 5+ years of migration industry experience and 2+ years of Pure experience. The current item bank is written to Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x and covers five weighted domains: Migration Concepts (33%), Troubleshooting (23%), Methodology (15%), Network and Connectivity (15%), and Virtualization (13%).

Sample Pure Migration Specialist Practice Questions

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

1A Migration Architect is moving 200 LUNs from a Dell EMC PowerMax to a FlashArray and needs an array-agnostic, host-transparent appliance-based migration. Which Pure-recommended tool is designed for this third-party block migration?

A.Purity Migrate (FlashArray-to-FlashArray async replication)

B.Cirrus Data Migrate (CMO) appliance

C.ActiveCluster synchronous replication

D.FlashRecover CloudSnap

Explanation: Cirrus Data CMO (Cirrus Migrate) is the Pure-endorsed third-party block migration appliance that inserts logically into the data path between heterogeneous source arrays (PowerMax, Hitachi, IBM, HPE, etc.) and the hosts. It performs online block-level migration to FlashArray with minimal host disruption and supports host-side, path-based, or storage-side insertion modes.

2A Cirrus Data CMO appliance is being inserted in the datapath between a legacy array and the hosts during migration. The customer wants the highest level of host granularity so individual hosts can be migrated independently. Which insertion type meets this requirement?

A.Path-based logical insertion

B.Storage-side logical insertion

C.Host-side logical insertion

D.Fabric-wide physical insertion

Explanation: Host-side logical insertion places CMO appliance ports between an individual host and the SAN fabric, giving the highest per-host granularity. Each host can be migrated, paused, or rolled back independently without affecting other hosts that share the same source storage ports.

3Which migration approach moves data using the source host's operating system (e.g., Linux LVM pvmove, AIX migratepv, Windows Storage Migration Service) without involving the source or target array's replication engine?

A.Array-based migration

B.Host-based migration

C.Hypervisor-based migration

D.Appliance-based migration

Explanation: Host-based migration uses native OS or volume manager utilities such as Linux LVM pvmove, AIX migratepv, Solaris ZFS send/recv, or Windows Storage Migration Service to copy data from old to new LUNs while the application stays online. The host does the I/O - neither source nor target array participates beyond serving block I/O.

4A Linux administrator must migrate an active filesystem off an old LUN to a new FlashArray-presented LUN with no application downtime. Both LUNs are part of the same LVM volume group. Which command performs an online block move at the physical-volume level?

A.dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb bs=1M

B.rsync -aAXv /old/ /new/

C.pvmove /dev/oldpv /dev/newpv

D.lvconvert --merge

Explanation: pvmove relocates allocated extents from one physical volume to another within the same LVM volume group while the logical volume remains online and writable. The kernel transparently redirects I/O during the move, making it the canonical online host-based block migration tool on Linux.

5On AIX, which command is the LVM-equivalent of Linux pvmove and is used to migrate logical-volume extents from one physical volume to another within the same volume group?

A.migratepv

B.lspv

C.exportvg

D.varyonvg

Explanation: migratepv moves the physical partitions belonging to one or more logical volumes from a source PV to a target PV within the same VG, online, on AIX. It is the AIX analog of Linux pvmove and is the standard host-based tool for migrating AIX LVM data to a new FlashArray-backed PV.

6A Solaris admin wants to migrate a ZFS pool from old SAN LUNs to new FlashArray LUNs with minimal downtime and full preservation of snapshots and dataset properties. Which native ZFS workflow is best?

A.tar cf - /pool | tar xf - /newpool

B.zfs send -R | zfs receive on the new pool

C.rsync -aAX /pool/ /newpool/

D.dd if=/dev/zvol/source of=/dev/zvol/target

Explanation: zfs send -R produces a recursive replication stream that includes all snapshots, descendant datasets, and dataset properties (compression, recordsize, ACLs). Piping it into zfs receive on the new pool reproduces the dataset hierarchy exactly. Incremental sends (-i) can shrink the cutover window.

7Which Microsoft tool, introduced with Windows Server 2019, is purpose-built to inventory, migrate, and cut over SMB file shares (including share permissions, NTFS ACLs, and DNS aliases) from legacy Windows or NetApp servers to a new Windows or FlashArray File target?

A.robocopy /MIR

B.Storage Migration Service (SMS)

C.DFS Replication

D.DiskPart

Explanation: Storage Migration Service (SMS) was introduced in Windows Server 2019 specifically to migrate file servers. It inventories source servers, transfers files plus security descriptors and share configuration, and at cutover takes over the source's identity (computer name and IP) so clients reconnect transparently. It is the recommended Microsoft path for SMB migrations to FlashArray File or a Windows file server fronting FlashArray.

8A Migration Architect plans an array-based migration between two FlashArrays running Purity//FA 6.4. The cutover must be a near-instant promote operation, not a full snapshot copy. Which Purity feature is designed for this?

A.ActiveDR continuous async replication with pod promote/demote

B.Periodic snapshot replication via protection groups

C.CloudSnap to S3 then restore

D.SafeMode immutable snapshots

Explanation: ActiveDR provides near-zero RPO continuous asynchronous replication using pods. At cutover, the architect demotes the source pod (read-only) and promotes the target pod (read-write), making the failover effectively instantaneous once the baseline and incremental replication are caught up. This is the FA-to-FA migration cutover model.

9ActiveCluster synchronous replication imposes a maximum supported round-trip time (RTT) between the two FlashArrays. What is that limit?

A.5 ms RTT

B.11 ms RTT

C.20 ms RTT

D.50 ms RTT

Explanation: Pure Storage supports ActiveCluster synchronous replication up to a maximum of 11 ms round-trip time between the two FlashArrays. Beyond 11 ms, write latency becomes unacceptable for most synchronous workloads and ActiveDR (asynchronous) should be used instead.

10When sizing a FlashArray target for a migration from an older array, which capacity-planning consideration is MOST important?

A.Provision the target with the same raw TB as the source array

B.Estimate Pure data-reduction (dedup + compression) using Pure1 Sizing Tool / Workload Planner against the source workload mix

C.Always provision at 50% of source raw capacity because Pure dedup is guaranteed 2:1

D.Use only thick-provisioned volumes to avoid running out of space

Explanation: FlashArray usable capacity depends on the workload's data-reduction ratio. Pure1 Sizing Tool and Workload Planner ingest source telemetry (or estimates) and project the effective capacity needed on FlashArray. Dedup/compression vary widely by workload (VDI ~5:1, databases ~2-4:1, encrypted data ~1:1) so a workload-aware estimate is required.

About the Pure Migration Specialist Exam

The Everpure Certified Migration Specialist (MS) - the official name uses 'Specialist', not 'Expert' - validates a candidate's ability to design and execute heterogeneous and homogeneous migrations onto Pure Storage. The exam covers block, file, and object migration patterns; host-based, array-based, and hypervisor-based approaches; Cirrus Data Migrate, Purity replication, ActiveDR, and ActiveCluster; the Pure Migration Methodology (PMM); FC/iSCSI/NVMe-TCP networking; and VMware/Hyper-V/KubeVirt virtualization migrations.

Assessment

60 multiple-choice questions delivered via online proctoring through ExamStudio. The current item bank is written to Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x with five weighted domains: Migration Concepts (33%), Troubleshooting (23%), Methodology (15%), Network and Connectivity (15%), and Virtualization (13%).

Time Limit

120 minutes

Passing Score

Pure Storage does not publish a numeric passing score (commonly cited as approximately 70%)

Exam Fee

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

Pure Migration Specialist Exam Content Outline

33%

Migration Concepts

Block, file (NAS), and object migration; host-based (Linux LVM pvmove, AIX migratepv, ZFS send/recv, Windows Storage Migration Service); array-based (Purity async replication, ActiveDR pod promote/demote, ActiveCluster sync up to 11 ms RTT); hypervisor-based (Storage vMotion, Hyper-V Live Storage Migration, KVM, KubeVirt); Cirrus Data CMO insertion modes; FlashBlade native file replication, RapidFile Toolkit, and multi-site-writable S3 buckets; Pure1 / Workload Planner sizing

23%

Troubleshooting

Block (zoning, multipath, ALUA, host registration); file (cross-protocol ID mapping, NFSv4 ACL via nfs4_getfacl, SMB ACLs via Get-SmbShareAccess); object (S3 403, versioning delete markers); virtualization (esxtop GAVG/KAVG/DAVG, vmkernel.log, Storage vMotion errors, CSV redirected access); rollback procedure execution and runbook gates

15%

Methodology

Pure Migration Methodology (PMM) phases - Discovery and Analysis, Plan and Design, Prepare and Execute; Pure1 and Workload Planner; SAN fabric discovery (show flogi database, cfgshow); RACI matrix; runbooks (pre-cut, cutover, post-cut, rollback); wave-based Move Group planning; baseline capture; communication cadence; risk management

15%

Network and Connectivity

FC fabric (dual independent fabrics, single-initiator/single-target zoning, NPIV, VSAN, IVR, XISL, slow-drain devices, B2B credits); iSCSI on routed networks with MTU 9000 (vmkping -d -s 8972); NVMe/TCP host requirements (HPP, RSS, IRQ affinity); Active Directory / Kerberos for SMB; LDAP / RFC 2307 for cross-protocol identity; FlashBlade NFS nconnect; Cisco MDS trunking (TE_Port) and FC QoS

13%

Virtualization

VMware Storage vMotion (license edition Standard+), Compute vMotion, Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion without shared storage; EVC for CPU compatibility; VMFS 6 datastores; vVols with VASA Provider and Protocol Endpoint; HPP for NVMe-oF and VMW_PSP_RR with IOPS=1 for SCSI; Multi-Writer VMDK flag; converting RDM to VMDK during Storage vMotion; Hyper-V Live Storage Migration to FlashArray-backed CSV; KubeVirt with FlashArray Direct Access Shared Block Device (RWX Block) via Pure CSI

How to Pass the Pure Migration Specialist Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: Pure Storage does not publish a numeric passing score (commonly cited as approximately 70%)
Assessment: 60 multiple-choice questions delivered via online proctoring through ExamStudio. The current item bank is written to Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x with five weighted domains: Migration Concepts (33%), Troubleshooting (23%), Methodology (15%), Network and Connectivity (15%), and Virtualization (13%).
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

Pure Migration Specialist Study Tips from Top Performers

1Read the official Pure Migration Specialist Study Guide cover to cover, including all 16 sample questions - several Pure exam item patterns (single-initiator zoning, IVR for blade chassis, XISL for stretched VFs, wave-based migration) appear there directly

2Memorize Pure's preferred answer patterns: wave-based over Big Bang, Cirrus Data CMO for heterogeneous block migration, FlashBlade native replication for FB-to-FB file moves, and Get-SmbShareAccess for share-level ACLs

3Practice the canonical commands hands-on: esxcli storage nmp device list -d <naa>, vmkping -d -s 8972, nfs4_getfacl with mount -o vers=4.1, multipath -ll, purearray monitor, and purefb monitor

4Master the Pure Migration Methodology (PMM) phases - Discovery and Analysis, Plan and Design, Prepare and Execute - and which deliverables (RACI, runbook, baseline, pilot, acceptance plan) belong to which phase

5For VMware questions, know Storage vMotion licensing (Standard+), HPP for NVMe-oF vs PSP_RR/IOPS=1 for SCSI, vVols requirements (VASA Provider + Protocol Endpoint), and the Cross vCenter without Shared Storage scenario

6For network questions, drill the difference between NPIV, VSAN, IVR, XISL, ICL, FCIP, and TE_Port - the exam consistently tests fabric design vocabulary

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Everpure Certified Migration Specialist (MS) exam?

It is Pure Storage's specialist-tier migration certification - note the official name uses 'Specialist', not 'Expert' - that validates the ability to plan and execute heterogeneous and homogeneous migrations onto FlashArray and FlashBlade. The exam covers block/file/object migration concepts, troubleshooting, the Pure Migration Methodology (PMM), SAN/IP networking, and virtualization migrations including VMware Storage vMotion, Hyper-V Live Storage Migration, and KubeVirt.

How many questions are on the Pure Migration Specialist exam?

The MS exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions and a 120-minute time limit. Pure does not publish a numeric passing score (commonly cited as approximately 70%). Items are weighted Migration Concepts 33%, Troubleshooting 23%, Methodology 15%, Network and Connectivity 15%, and Virtualization 13%, and are written against Purity//FA 6.9.x and Purity//FB 4.5.x.

What does the Pure Migration Specialist exam cover?

Migration concepts (host-based with LVM pvmove/AIX migratepv/ZFS send/recv, array-based with Purity replication and ActiveDR pod promote, hypervisor-based with Storage vMotion and Hyper-V Live Storage Migration, plus Cirrus Data CMO and FlashBlade replication); troubleshooting (multipath, vmkernel.log, esxtop GAVG/KAVG/DAVG, NFSv4 ACL discovery, SMB Get-SmbShareAccess); methodology (PMM phases, wave/Move-Group planning, RACI, runbooks, rollback gates); network and connectivity (FC zoning, NPIV, VSAN, IVR, XISL, iSCSI MTU 9000, NVMe/TCP); and virtualization (HPP, PSP_RR, EVC, vVols/VASA, Multi-Writer, KubeVirt with Pure CSI).

How much does the Pure Migration Specialist exam cost?

The exam fee is $300 USD per attempt. Delivery is online proctored through ExamStudio via the Pure Customer Academy. Pure partners may have access to vouchers or discounted pricing through their channel programs.

What experience does Pure recommend before taking the MS exam?

Pure recommends 5+ years of relevant migration industry experience and 2+ years of hands-on Pure Storage experience. Candidates should have completed (or be at the level of) the Pure Certified FlashArray Storage Professional Prep and FlashBlade Storage Professional Prep, and have led real-world migrations involving Cirrus Data, Storage vMotion, ActiveDR, or comparable tooling.

What study materials does Pure provide for the MS exam?

Pure publishes the official Migration Specialist Study Guide PDF (containing the exam blueprint, recommended reading list, and 16 sample questions with answers), the Pure Migration Methodology (PMM) Guide, the Data Migration Strategy Guide, and an extensive set of Pure PEAK Knowledge articles covering FlashArray, FlashBlade, Cirrus Data Migrate, and VMware/Hyper-V integration.

Is the Pure Migration Specialist exam the same as 'Migration Expert'?

The official, current Pure name is 'Everpure Certified Migration Specialist (MS)'. Some older internal references and aggregator listings still use 'Migration Expert', but the canonical Pure Customer Academy page and the published study guide both use 'Specialist'. Treat them as the same credential when researching, and trust the 'Specialist' name on the official page.

100+ Free Pure Migration Specialist Practice Questions

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