500-425 Questions and Answers

The Database Collector’s Hardware Monitoring configuration allows you to enable the Database Agent to monitor the server hardware in addition to the database. You can choose from the following operating systems: Linux, Windows, and Solaris1 You need to provide the credentials and the connection details for the server that hosts the database1 References: 1: Configure the Database Agent to Monitor Server Hardware

According to the Time Range Comparisons document1, you can use the Compare Time Range feature in Dash Studio to compare two time periods on a widget. However, this feature also means that the widget may not use the global time range set for the entire dashboard by default. Instead, the widget may use its own time range (denoted as T1) and a second time range (denoted as T2) for comparison. Therefore, if the customer changes the time range using the time picker, the data on the widget may not change accordingly, unless they also update the widget’s time range settings. Tofix this problem, the customer can either disable the Compare Time Range feature or adjust the widget’s time range to match the global time range. References:

• Time Range Comparisons

When you assign users to a group in AppDynamics, you can manage their permissions and access levels more easily. A group is a collection of users who share the same roles and privileges. A role is a set of permissions that define what actions a user can perform on the Controller UI or the Events Service.

According to the System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager - User Management, the following statement is true about assigning users to a group:

• When you add a role to a group, every user in the group is assigned that role: This means that the users in the group inherit the permissions of the role that you add to the group. For example, if you add the Administrator role to a group, then all the users in that group can perform administrative tasks on the Controller UI or the Events Service.

The other statements are false because:

• When you assign a user to a group, they can only have the roles assigned to that group: This is not true because a user can belong to multiple groups and have multiple roles. For example, a user can be in both the Administrator and the Operator groups and have the permissions of both roles.
• You can list all users in a group that are logged into AppDynamics: This is not true because there is no such feature in AppDynamics that allows you to see thelogin status of the users in a group. You can only see the list of users and groups in the User Management page of the Controller UI or the Events Service.
• When the user logs in they can log in with the group credentials: This is not true because a user cannot log in with the group credentials. A user can only log in with their own username and password. The group credentials are not used for authentication, but for authorization.

Therefore, D (When you add a role to a group, every user in the group is assigned that role) is the correct answer. References:

• System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager - User Management
• Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Certification
• User Management - AppDynamics

The Mark Business Transaction as Error checkbox under Configuration > Instrumentation > Error Detection allows you to control whether a business transaction is reported as an error or not. If you clear this checkbox, the business transaction will not be marked as an error and will not affect the error count metrics.

According to the Error Detection: Mark Business Transaction as Error - AppDynamics, the following statements are true when you clear this checkbox:

• The transaction is included in Response Time metrics: This means that the transaction will still contribute to the response time metric, which measures the average time it takes for a request to be completed by AppDynamics. However, it will not affect other response time metrics, such as First Response Time or Average Time to First Byte.
• The transaction is added to error count metrics: This means that the transaction will still count towards the error count metric, which measures the number of transactions that have failed due to errors. However, it will not affect other error count metrics, such as Error Rate or Error Percentage.

Therefore, A (The transaction is included in Response Time metrics) and B (The transaction is added to error count metrics) are true. References:

• Error Detection: Mark Business Transaction as Error - AppDynamics
• Business Transaction - AppDynamics
• Error Detection - AppDynamics

According to the Transaction Thresholds document1, you can set static thresholds for individual business transactions by selecting Individual Transaction Thresholds from the Business Transaction Configuration window. You can then specify the values for Slow, Very Slow, and Stall thresholds for each business transaction. This way, you can customize the thresholds according to the SLA and the expected performance of the long-running transactions. Setting the default thresholds or adjusting the health rules would affect all the business transactions, not just the long-running ones. Therefore, the correct answer is C. References:

• Transaction Thresholds

The custom dashboard feature in AppDynamics allows you to display a specific set of metrics and data points on one screen. You can use custom dashboards to present selected metrics for a user who only needs a relatively narrow or focused view of the data. You can also share custom dashboards with other users and stakeholders.

According to the [Custom Dashboards - AppDynamics], some of the advantages of the custom dashboard feature are:

• It makes drill down across tiers seamless: You can use the grid layout type to create a flexible layout that is easy to rearrange on the canvas. The grid layout also scales in size when viewed on mobile devices. You can also use the absolute layout type to control width and height and the exact placement of widgets on the canvas.
• It monitors metrics of interest: You can add widgets from various categories, such as application, server, database, performance, events, and so on. You can also customize the widget properties panel to configure the widget settings, such as title, description, color scheme, time range, auto-refresh interval, and so on.
• It schedules dashboard as a report: You can export your custom dashboard as a PDF or HTML report that you can send by email or save as a file. You can also schedule your custom dashboard to run periodically using cron expressions.

Therefore, A (It makes drill down across tiers seamless), C (It monitors metrics of interest), and E (It schedules dashboard as a report) are three advantages of the custom dashboard feature. References:

• [Custom Dashboards - AppDynamics]
• [Create and Manage Custom Dashboards and Templates - AppDynamics]
• Custom Dashboard Permissions - docs.appdynamics.com

The Policy Test Bench gives administrators the ability to test and debug policy execution. It allows you to simulate events and see how the policies and actions respond to them. You can also view the policy execution logs and troubleshoot any issues1 References: 1: Policy Test Bench

A data collector is used to capture application data in a single business transaction. A data collector is a configuration that specifies what data to capture from a business transaction and how to store it in the AppDynamics Controller or the analytics platform. You can capture data from HTTP requests, method invocations, custom fields, or information points. You can also apply filters and transformations to the captured data. The captured data can be used for various purposes, such as adding context to business transactions, creating custom metrics, triggering health rules, enriching transaction analytics, or creating business journeys.https://university.appdynamics.com/certifications/associate-administrator

https://docs.appdynamics.com/appd/22.x/latest/en/application-monitoring/business-transactions

Business Transaction metrics are the key performance indicators that measure the health and performance of your applications. They include metrics such as average response time, calls per minute, errors per minute, and so on. You can use various types of performance degradation analysis to identify and troubleshoot the root causes of performance issues using Business Transaction metrics.

According to the Troubleshoot Business Transactions - AppDynamics, the following types of performance degradation analysis are used with Business Transaction metrics:

• Correlation Analysis: This type of analysis helps you to find the correlation between different metrics and events that may affect the performance of your Business Transactions. For example, you can use the correlation analysis to see how the response time of a Business Transaction is related to the CPU utilization of a node, or how the error rate of a Business Transaction is related to the number of slow database calls.
• Remote Services Analysis: This type of analysis helps you to understand how the performance of your Business Transactions is impacted by the calls to remote services, such as databases, web services, message queues, and so on. For example, you can use the remote services analysis to see the response time, call count, error count, and wait time of each remote service call, and drill down to the details of each call.
• Compare Releases: This type of analysis helps you to compare the performance of your Business Transactions across different releases of your application. For example, you can use the compare releases analysis to see how the response time, error rate, and throughput of your Business Transactions have changed after a new deployment, and identify any performance regressions or improvements.

Therefore, A (Correlation Analysis), B (Remote Services Analysis), and E (Compare Releases) are three types of performance degradation analysis that are used with Business Transaction metrics. References:

• Troubleshoot Business Transactions - AppDynamics
• Business Transaction - AppDynamics
• Cisco AppDynamics Associate Performance Analyst Certification

To capture business data for Transaction Analytics, you must first configure a data collector. A data collector is a configuration that specifies what data to capture from a business transaction and how to store it in the analytics platform. You can capture data from HTTP requests, method invocations, custom fields, or information points. You can also apply filters and transformations to the captured data. Once you have configured a data collector, you can use it to enrich the transaction analytics data with business context and enable advanced queries and visualizations

https://docs.appdynamics.com/accounts/en/cisco-appdynamics-saas-deployment-user-management/manage-custom-roles-for-cisco-appdynamics/transaction-analytics-permissions

According to the Widgets document1, there are various types of widgets that can be used to create visual representations of data in custom dashboards and war rooms. Some of the widget types are:

• Flow Map: A flow map widget displays the flow of traffic between different entities, such as applications, tiers, nodes, backends, and so on. You can customize the flow map to show different metrics, filters, and drill-down options.
• iFrame: An iFrame widget allows you to embed an external web page or another dashboard within a custom dashboard. You can specify the URL, height, and width of the iFrame widget.
• Health List: A health list widget displays the health status of different entities, such as applications, tiers, nodes, business transactions, and so on. You can customize the health list to show different metrics, filters, and drill-down options.

Therefore, the correct answer is A, B, and C. Snapshot and Funnel Analysts are not widget types, but features or tools that can be accessed from other widgets or dashboards. References:

• Widgets

Database Visibility provides metrics on the performance of your database and helps troubleshoot performance-related issues. Database Visibility consists of four main components: Database Agent, Collector, Controller, and Events Service (on-premises only). The Database Agent is a standalone Java program that collects performance metrics about your database instances and database servers. The Collector is the process that runs within the Database Agent to collect performance metrics about your database instances and database servers. The Controller is the central interface where you can see all your database instances and database server performance metrics. The Events Service stores high volumes of metric data.

According to the Overview of Database Visibility, the following types of information are sent to the Controller:

• Database-level metrics, such as the number of queries processed and other database statistics
• Names and attributes of all sessions, clients, queries, and other objects on the monitored system

The following types of information are sent to the Events Service:

• Time that each query spends at each wait state
• Individual query statistics for databases that support it
• Information about individual execution plans in databases that support it

Therefore, B (Average Number of Slow Connections) and C (Top Leaked Connections) are two stats that are available in Database Visibility. References:

• Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Certification
• Overview of Database Visibility - AppDynamics
• Database Visibility - AppDynamics

Health Rules are the rules that define the normal or expected behavior of your application, such as the response time, error rate, or CPU utilization of a business transaction, tier, node, or backend. You can create health rules to monitor the performance and availability of your application and its components. When a health rule is violated, it changes the status of the corresponding key performance indicator (KPI) from normal to warning or critical, depending on the severity of the violation. The status change is also represented as an event in the AppDynamics Controller UI, which can trigger alerts, policies, and actions. You can view the health rule events in the Events tab of the application dashboard, or in the Health tab of the entity dashboard.

https://developer.cisco.com/docs/appdynamics/health-rules/

https://university.appdynamics.com/certifications/associate-administrator