MCTS KEY

Number of questions: 69
Number of questions to pass: 50
Time allowed: 90 mins
Status: Live

This exam consists of 6 sections described below.

Section 1: Planning
Given the stakeholder requirements, document the functional steps so that an IBM Netcool/Impact solution is designed.
Given the functional requirements determined by the stakeholders and the current state system architecture (if one exists), gather technical deployment requirements from the stakeholders so that a full technical architecture is documented and approved,
Given Netcool/Impact functional requirements, and architectual requirements, determine Netcool/Impact policy design standards so that the policies can be written.
Given the stakeholders for Impact, communicate and coordinate their involvement such that Impact functionality can be best utilized.
Given that functional requirements have been identified, and external resources have been established, determine the users, administrators and authentication specifics so that users can be configured within Netcool/Impact.
Given the functional requirements access the application dependencies to fulfill functional requirements and document them so that applications can be integrated.

Section 2: Installation
Given the prerequisite components, verify their setup so that the Impact Server is ready for installation.
Given available ports, additional components, password for impactadmin user, installation user, resiliency requirements and Objectserver location, identify all of the installation parameters so that installation parameters are identified in preparation for installation of Impact.
Given the approved technical architecture and verified installation prerequisites; install, test and document the Impact solution so that it is ready for use.
Given the architecture resiliency requirements, install two Impact server cluster members, configure the necessary failover points, and set up self monitoring of Impact so that all components meet the requirements for resiliency.
Given the various Impact component scripts, configure application startup so that all necessary components are running and will startup automatically upon physical server restart.

Section 3: Configuration
Given appropriate data access and the documented system architecture, configure and test Impact Data Sources such that defined data sources are operational.
Given a properly configured and accessible data source and access to the Impact GUI create data type and data source relationships so that a data model can be built.
Given that Netcool Impact has been properly installed, the name of the Netcool Impact Server is known, a valid username and password is known (optionally encrypted), a policy to execute is known, and optionally a @Identifier and @Serial if policy contains a call to the Returnevent function, configure command-line activiation of policies requirements so that policies may be executed from the command-line.
Given the anticipated event volumes and multi-policy processing, set up event processor so that processing of events is optimized with minimal conflicts.
Given that Access to Data Sources has been configured, Data Types have been created and Policies written, identify Netcool Impact Service configuration requirements so that Event Readers can be created within Netcool Impact.
Given that Services are available, configure Services such that Impact services are ready to record log messages to file.
Given a working installation of JazzSM/DASH (Jazz for Service Management/Dashboard Application Service Hub) and a working installation of Netcool/Impact V7.1 add connections to Impact from DASH so that DASH is allowed to access Impact to gain information from policies.
Given a user registry is required, configure the user registry so that all roles, groups and users are defined.
Given data from various sources and the stakeholder’s functional requirements, define data providers so that an interface is created that allows DASH to consume the required data.
Given the Impact Documentation, describe the DASH concept so that the DASH concept is understood.
Given that DASH will be used, JazzSM with DASH has been installed, the data sources and data type relationships have been established, policies are written, and that the connection between Netcool/Impact and DASH have been established, add widgets to the DASH environment so that DASH widgets are connected to and populated by Netcool/Impact UI Data Providers.

Section 4: Development
Given functional requirements, an architectural design, and policy objectives, draft a pseudo-code so that a document fully describes the critical elements of a policy defined in the functional requirements is created.
Given that Netcool Impact planning requirements have been met, proper Installation and Configuration of the Netcool Impact server has occured, and a Netcool ObjectServer is running and accessable with administrative access, determine and create Netcool ObjectServer fields to meet functional requirements so that addtional ObjectServer fields are created.
Given pseudo-code or policy flow statements with properly configured data sources and data types, develop and unit test Impact policies such that functional requirements are met.
Given policies, type of service details, and filter conditions, configure Netcool/Impact services so that policies are automatically executed.
Given that an Operator View is required, create and configure an Operator View so that data can be visualized in Netcool/Impact.
Given the system requirements and a functioning Impact system with deployed policies and services, test with relevant stakeholders so that policy output is verified.
Given the complete project requirements, identify the appropriate parties and available mechanisms to formulate and document a policy exception plan so that a document that defines the project specific policy exception plan is created.

Section 5: Administration
Given that Netcool Impact planning requirements have been met, proper Installation and Configuration of the Netcool Impact server has occurred, is running and accessible, and Project Members have been determined, configure Netcool Impact Projects so that a subset of elements stored in the global repository is grouped together into a project.
Given detailed functional requirements related to user access and roles, configure users and roles so that users have appropriate access to Impact.
Given that Impact Server A has been configured, export data from Impact Server A such that the data can be Imported into Impact Server B.

Section 6: Performance Tuning and Problem Determination
Given an installed Impact system based on technical architecture specifications, review the deployment documentation and check various outputs of systems so that a properly installed Impact system is verified.
Given an operating Impact server and performance requirements, analyze reports, identify potential data source and policy performance issues, and create recommendations for those issues so that a document describing data source and policy performance issues is created recommending appropriate actions to mitigate the issues.
Given that a functional Netcool Impact Installation is running, Logging Standards and Netcool Impact Services are configured, utilize Netcool/Impact and system tools so that performance issues may be assessed.
Given incorrect output of a policy but syntax shows no errors, test system and review logs so that problems and issues are isolated within the system.
Given that Impact Subversion is generating error messages in the log files, and the user has permissions to troubleshoot using the nci_version_control script identify and troubleshoot Impact Subversion so that SVN no longer generates error messages.

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Sample Test for Test C9560-524

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This exam has an Assessment Exam option: A9560-524 Assessment: IBM Tivoli Netcool/Impact V7.1 Implementation

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Passing the exam does not award you a certification, and it is only used to help you assess if you are ready or not to take the certification exam.

You can register for it at Pearson VUE and it will provide you a score report, showing you how you did in each section.

Classroom Course

Course Title: TN045G: IBM Tivoli Netcool/Impact 7.1 Administration and Implementation
Course Duration: 4 days
Course Number: TN045G

Course Abstract: This course teaches students how to deploy and administer IBM Tivoli Netcool/Impact through practice exercises. This course is designed specifically for anyone who might be technically responsible for the design and implementation of Netcool/Impact, a highly scalable analytics engine that adds event and service enrichment and business impact analysis for event data. You should expect exposure to all fundamental elements of Netcool/Impact with a focus on developing policies within the Netcool/Impact product and exploring the features that enhance the visualization, usability, and integration functions. The visualization enhancements are facilitated by the integration of the IBM Dashboard Application Services Hub, which is part of Jazz™ for Service Management, and Netcool/Impact features such as the UI data provider.