MuleSoft-Platform-Architect-I Practice Exam Questions with Answers Salesforce Certified MuleSoft Platform Architect (Mule-Arch-201) Certification

Explanation

Correct Answer: Approve the client application request for the chosen SLA tier

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>> Only approving the client application request for the chosen SLA tier can be automated

>> Rest of the provided options are not valid

For a European company with requirements such as zero-downtime redeployment, deployment to multiple runtime versions, secure and fast performance, and the use of Anypoint MQ without additional network configuration, CloudHub is the best choice for the following reasons:

Zero-Downtime Redeployment: CloudHub supports zero-downtime deployment, which allows seamless redeployment of applications without impacting availability.

Support for Multiple Runtime Versions: CloudHub allows deploying applications across different Mule runtime versions, giving flexibility to test and migrate applications as needed.

Integrated Anypoint MQ: Anypoint MQ, which is fully integrated with CloudHub, provides reliable messaging across applications. Choosing CloudHub removes the need for additional network configurations, as Anypoint MQ can be directly accessed in this hosted environment.

Security and Performance: CloudHub offers secure networking, automatic scaling, and optimized performance without requiring a complex setup. This is managed by MuleSoft’s infrastructure, meeting the speed and security requirements with minimal overhead.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A and D (Runtime Fabric on VMs or Self-Managed Kubernetes): While Runtime Fabric offers flexibility, it requires more complex network and infrastructure configurations, which is not ideal if the company seeks simplicity.

Option B (Customer-hosted): This would require additional network and security configuration, which does not align with the requirement of minimizing setup complexity.

ReferencesFor more information on CloudHub’s capabilities regarding zero-downtime deployments and integration with Anypoint MQ, refer to MuleSoft documentation on CloudHub??.

To monitor an application network and predict issues without custom scripts, policy violation metrics are critical. They provide insights into potential problems by tracking instances where API usage does not conform to defined policies. Here’s why this approach is suitable:

Predictive Monitoring:

Tracking API policy violations (such as rate limits or spike controls being hit) can indicate surges in traffic or misuse, which may lead to throttling or service degradation if not addressed.

By monitoring these violations, teams can proactively adjust limits or optimize API handling to prevent actual failures.

No Custom Scripting Needed:

Policy violation metrics are available within MuleSoft’s Anypoint Monitoring, meaning there’s no need to implement custom solutions or external tools to gather and interpret this data.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option B (effectiveness based on reuse) does not directly predict failures.

Option C (past invocation counts) offers historical usage data but does not inherently identify issues.

Option D (ROI from API invocation) is a business metric and does not provide technical insights for failure prediction.

ReferencesFor more details on leveraging policy violation metrics for proactive monitoring, refer to MuleSoft documentation on Anypoint Monitoring??.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Use a horizontal CloudHub autoscaling policy that triggers on CPU utilization greater than 70%

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The scenario in the question is very clearly stating that the usual traffic in the year is pretty well handled by the existing worker configuration with CPU running well below 70%. The problem occurs only "sometimes" occasionally when there is spike in the number of orders coming in.

So, based on above, We neither need to permanently increase the size of each worker nor need to permanently increase the number of workers. This is unnecessary as other than those "occasional" times the resources are idle and wasted.

We have two options left now. Either to use horizontal Cloudhub autoscaling policy to automatically increase the number of workers or to use vertical Cloudhub autoscaling policy to automatically increase the vCore size of each worker.

Here, we need to take two things into consideration:

1. CPU

2. Order Submission Rate to JMS Queue

>> From CPU perspective, both the options (horizontal and vertical scaling) solves the issue. Both helps to bring down the usage below 90%.

>> However, If we go with Vertical Scaling, then from Order Submission Rate perspective, as the application is still being load balanced with two workers only, there may not be much improvement in the incoming request processing rate and order submission rate to JMS queue. The throughput would be same as before. Only CPU utilization comes down.

>> But, if we go with Horizontal Scaling, it will spawn new workers and adds extra hand to increase the throughput as more workers are being load balanced now. This way we can address both CPU and Order Submission rate.

Hence, Horizontal CloudHub Autoscaling policy is the right and best answer.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Increase the size of the CloudHub worker(s)

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The key details that we can take out from the given scenario are:

>> API implementation uses a database bulk insert command to submit all the purchase data to a database

>> JDBC driver processes the data into a set of several temporary disk files on the CloudHub worker

>> Sometimes a request fails and the logs show a message indicating an out-of-file-space message

Based on above details:

>> Both auto-scaling options does NOT help because we cannot set auto-scaling rules based on error messages. Auto-scaling rules are kicked-off based on CPU/Memory usages and not due to some given error or disk space issues.

>> Increasing the number of CloudHub workers also does NOT help here because the reason for the failure is not due to performance aspects w.r.t CPU or Memory. It is due to disk-space.

>> Moreover, the API is doing bulk insert to submit the received batch data. Which means, all data is handled by ONE worker only at a time. So, the disk space issue should be tackled on "per worker" basis. Having multiple workers does not help as the batch may still fail on any worker when disk is out of space on that particular worker.

Therefore, the right way to deal this issue and resolve this is to increase the vCore size of the worker so that a new worker with more disk space will be provisioned.

Explanation

Correct Answer: SLA-based rate limiting

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>> Client Id enforement policy is a "Compliance" related NFR and does not help in maintaining the "Quality of Service (QoS)". It CANNOT and NOT meant for protecting the backend systems from scalability challenges.

>> IP Whitelisting and OAuth 2.0 token enforcement are "Security" related NFRs and again does not help in maintaining the "Quality of Service (QoS)". They CANNOT and are NOT meant for protecting the backend systems from scalability challenges.

Rate Limiting, Rate Limiting-SLA, Throttling, Spike Control are the policies that are "Quality of Service (QOS)" related NFRs and are meant to help in protecting the backend systems from getting overloaded.

https://dzone.com/articles/how-to-secure-apis

Explanation

Correct Answer: An SLA for the upstream API CANNOT be provided.

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>> First thing first, the default HTTP response timeout for HTTP connector is 10000 ms (10 seconds). NOT 500 ms.

>> Mule runtime does NOT apply any such "load-dependent" timeouts. There is no such behavior currently in Mule.

>> As there is default 10000 ms time out for HTTP connector, we CANNOT always guarantee that the invocation of the downstream API will run to completion without timing out due to its unreliable SLA times. If the response time crosses 10 seconds then the request may time out.

The main impact due to this is that a proper SLA for the upstream API CANNOT be provided.

Explanation

Correct Answer: IP whitelist

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>> OAuth 2.0 access token and Client ID enforcement policies are VERY common to apply on Experience APIs as API consumers need to register and access the APIs using one of these mechanisms

>> JSON threat protection is also VERY common policy to apply on Experience APIs to prevent bad or suspicious payloads hitting the API implementations.

>> IP whitelisting policy is usually very common in Process and System APIs to only whitelist the IP range inside the local VPC. But also applied occassionally on some experience APIs where the End User/ API Consumers are FIXED.

>> When we know the API consumers upfront who are going to access certain Experience APIs, then we can request for static IPs from such consumers and whitelist them to prevent anyone else hitting the API.

However, the experience API given in the question/ scenario is intended to work with a consumer mobile phone or tablet application. Which means, there is no way we can know all possible IPs that are to be whitelisted as mobile phones and tablets can so many in number and any device in the city/state/country/globe.

So, It is very LEAST LIKELY to apply IP Whitelisting on such Experience APIs whose consumers are typically Mobile Phones or Tablets.

In API-led design, an Experience API is enhanced to improve how data is delivered to end-user applications. One primary reason to enhance an Experience API is when new data standards, such as a Canonical Data Model, are adopted. Here’s why:

Canonical Data Model (CDM):

Adopting a CDM standardizes data representations across the organization, making APIs more consistent and easier to consume across various services and applications.

Updating the Experience API ensures that it delivers data in this standardized format, improving interoperability and reusability.

Explanation of Correct Answer (D):

A CDM impacts the structure and types of data the API provides, and this update would be directly relevant to an Experience API, as it is the primary point of interaction for applications.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A involves adapting to consumer-specific standards, which is against API-led design principles.

Option B involves changes in System APIs, which don’t directly mandate changes to the Experience API unless data formatting adjustments are required.

Option C (IP Allowlist) relates to security rather than API design and would not motivate a functional enhancement of the API.

ReferencesFor more details on the use of Canonical Data Models in API-led architecture, refer to MuleSoft’s guidelines on data standardization and Experience API best practices?.

Given that the application is designed to handle only one process at a time to maintain data consistency, here’s why horizontal scaling won’t increase the processing limit:

Single-Process Constraint:

The application limits to processing one transaction at a time due to its design for consistency, meaning horizontal scaling (adding more workers) does not increase processing speed beyond this limit.

Execution Time:

Since each request takes 200 ms, five requests per second is the maximum processing threshold. Increasing the number of workers does not bypass this single-process limitation.

Explanation of Correct Answer (A):

The scalability remains at five requests per second, as this constraint is intrinsic to the application’s design.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option B suggests a change in execution time, which horizontal scaling does not affect.

Option C assumes doubling the throughput, which isn’t possible due to the single-threaded nature of the application.

Option D suggests horizontal scaling cannot apply, which is incorrect; however, scaling does not increase throughput in this context.

ReferencesFor more on understanding scaling and concurrency in Mule applications, see MuleSoft’s documentation on application performance and scaling limitations?.

Explanation

Correct Answers:

1. Each modern API must be treated like a product and designed for a particular target audience (for instance mobile app developers)

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Explanation

Correct Answer: The FQDNs are determined by the application name chosen, IRRESPECTIVE of the region

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>> When deploying applications to Shared Worker Cloud, the FQDN are always determined by application name chosen.

>> It does NOT matter what region the app is being deployed to.

>> Although it is fact and true that the generated FQDN will have the region included in it (Ex: exp-salesorder-api.au-s1.cloudhub.io), it does NOT mean that the same name can be used when deploying to another CloudHub region.

>> Application name should be universally unique irrespective of Region and Organization and solely determines the FQDN for Shared Load Balancers.

Explanation

Correct Answer: The client ID and secret obtained from Anypoint Exchange for the API instance in the STAGING environment

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>> We CANNOT use the client ID and secret of Anypoint Platform account or any individual environments for accessing the APIs

>> As the type of policy that is enforced on the API in question is "Client ID Enforcment Policy", OAuth token based access won't work.

Right way to access the API is to use the client ID and secret obtained from Anypoint Exchange for the API instance in a particular environment we want to work on.

References:

Managing API instance Contracts on API Manager

https://docs.mulesoft.com/api-manager/1.x/request-access-to-api-task

https://docs.mulesoft.com/exchange/to-request-access

https://docs.mulesoft.com/api-manager/2.x/policy-mule3-clie nt-id-based-policies

Understanding Idempotency:

Idempotency is a concept in APIs where an operation can be performed multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application. This is particularly important for operations that may be repeated due to network retries or client errors.

When to Consider Idempotency:

Idempotency should be taken into account when there is a risk of duplicate processing due to multiple requests being sent (e.g., retries or errors). This ensures that repeated requests do not result in unintended side effects, such as creating multiple records or processing the same transaction more than once.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A: While locked entities may need special handling, this is not directly related to idempotency.

Option B: Storing results for future responses could be useful but does not relate to idempotent operations.

Option C: Concurrent requests for the same entity might require handling for conflicts, but this scenario is better suited for transaction management or concurrency control.

Option D (Correct Answer): Preventing duplicate processing from multiple requests is a key reason to implement idempotency, ensuring that repeat requests have no adverse effects.

Conclusion:

Option D is the correct answer as idempotency is specifically used to handle scenarios where duplicate requests might be sent, preventing unintended processing.

Refer to MuleSoft's documentation on best practices for idempotency in API design for more details.

MuleSoft offers various tools to automate the deployment of Mule applications, which can streamline deployment and management processes. Here’s how each tool supports automated deployment:

Runtime Manager:

Anypoint Runtime Manager is MuleSoft’s web-based interface that allows users to deploy, manage, and monitor applications directly. It provides deployment automation through its user-friendly interface.

Anypoint Platform CLI:

The Anypoint CLI enables scripting of deployment and management tasks, making it possible to automate deployments via command-line scripts. This tool is ideal for CI/CD pipelines as it integrates with automated processes.

Platform APIs:

MuleSoft’s Platform APIs allow programmatic access to deployment functions, enabling integration with external automation tools and CI/CD systems. These APIs facilitate deployment through RESTful calls, which can be automated for continuous delivery.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option D (Anypoint Studio) is primarily for development and does not support deployment automation.

Option E (Maven Plugin) can be used for building and deploying Mule applications but isn’t classified as a platform tool for deployment.

Option F (API Community Manager) is unrelated to deployment and instead focuses on managing API communities.

ReferencesFor detailed steps on automating deployments with these tools, refer to MuleSoft documentation on Runtime Manager, CLI, and Platform APIs?.

To create a unified schema in MuleSoft's DataGraph, APIs must be exposed in a way that allows DataGraph to pull and consolidate data from these APIs into a single schema accessible to consumers. DataGraph provides a federated approach, combining multiple APIs to form a single, unified API endpoint.

In this setup:

APIs 1, 2, 3, and 4 are suitable candidates for DataGraph because they are hosted within the Customer VPC on CloudHub and are accessible either through a Shared Load Balancer (LB) or a Dedicated Load Balancer (DLB). Both of these load balancers provide public access, which is a necessary condition for DataGraph as it must access the APIs to aggregate data.

APIs 5 and 6 are hosted on Customer Hosted Server 2, which is explicitly marked as "Not public". Since DataGraph requires API access through a publicly reachable endpoint to aggregate them into a unified schema, APIs 5 and 6 cannot be used with DataGraph in this configuration.

APIs 3 and 4 on Customer Hosted Server 1 appear accessible through a Shared LB, implying public accessibility that meets DataGraph’s requirements.

By combining APIs 1, 2, 3, and 4 within DataGraph, you can create a unified schema that enables clients to query data seamlessly from all these APIs as if it were from a single source.

This setup allows for efficient data retrieval and can simplify API consumption by reducing the need to call multiple APIs individually, thus optimizing performance and developer experience.

ReferencesFor more detailed information on setting up and managing unified schemas in DataGraph, refer to the DataWeave documentation and MuleSoft DataGraph resources which provide in-depth guidelines on schema aggregation and API federation??.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Search Anypoint exchange for a suitable existing fallback API, and then implement invocations to this fallback API in addition to the order API

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>> It is not ideal and good approach, until unless there is a pre-approved agreement with the API clients that they will receive a HTTP 3xx temporary redirect status code and they have to implement fallback logic their side to call another API.

>> Creating separate entry of same Order API in API manager would just create an another instance of it on top of same API implementation. So, it does NO GOOD by using clone od same API as a fallback API. Fallback API should be ideally a different API implementation that is not same as primary one.

>> There is NO option currently provided by Anypoint HTTP Connector that allows us to invoke a fallback API when we receive certain HTTP status codes in response.

The only statement TRUE in the given options is to Search Anypoint exchange for a suitable existing fallback API, and then implement invocations to this fallback API in addition to the order API.

Explanation

Correct Answer: The API consumer creates an API client, which sends API invocations to an API such that they are processed by an API implementation

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Terminology:

>> API Client - It is a piece of code or program the is written to invoke an API

>> API Consumer - An owner/entity who owns the API Client. API Consumers write API clients.

>> API - The provider of the API functionality. Typically an API Instance on API Manager where they are managed and operated.

>> API Implementation - The actual piece of code written by API provider where the functionality of the API is implemented. Typically, these are Mule Applications running on Runtime Manager.

Explanation

Correct Answer: The credentials provided by the IdP for identity management

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Explanation

Correct Answer: Apply a basic authentication - LDAP policy; the internal Active Directory will be configured as the LDAP source for authenticating users.

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>> IP Whitelisting does NOT fit for this purpose. Moreover, the users workstations may not necessarily have static IPs in the network.

>> OAuth 2.0 enforcement requires a client provider which isn't in the organizations system components.

>> It is not an effective approach to let every user create separate client credentials and configure those for their usage.

The effective way it to apply a basic authentication - LDAP policy and the internal Active Directory will be configured as the LDAP source for authenticating users.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Manually provisioned customer-hosted runtime plane and customer-hosted control plane

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There are two key factors that are to be taken into consideration from the scenario given in the question.

>> Company requires both data and metadata to be resided within the corporate firewall

>> Company would like to go with customer-hosted infrastructure.

Any deployment model that is to deal with the cloud directly or indirectly (Mulesoft-hosted or Customer's own cloud like Azure, AWS) will have to share atleast the metadata.

Application data can be controlled inside firewall by having Mule Runtimes on customer hosted runtime plane. But if we go with Mulsoft-hosted/ Cloud-based control plane, the control plane required atleast some minimum level of metadata to be sent outside the corporate firewall.

As the customer requirement is pretty clear about the data and metadata both to be within the corporate firewall, even though customer wants to move to production as quickly as possible, unfortunately due to the nature of their security requirements, they have no other option but to go with manually provisioned customer-hosted runtime plane and customer-hosted control plane.

In MuleSoft’s ecosystem, when a Process API needs to consume a System API (published to Exchange and protected by OAuth 2.0), the recommended approach is to utilize the REST Connect Connector. Here’s how it aligns with best practices:

Automated Connector Generation:

When a RAML or OAS specification is published in Exchange, MuleSoft automatically generates a REST Connect Connector for that API. This connector simplifies integration as it abstracts the complexity of making HTTP requests and handling OAuth authentication.

Streamlined Integration:

The Process API can import this generated connector from Exchange and configure OAuth credentials, streamlining secure access to the System API without manual HTTP setup.

Why Option C is Correct:

Using the REST Connect Connector directly leverages MuleSoft’s automated tooling, minimizing manual configurations and ensuring a more maintainable integration.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A (importing an OAuth module) is unnecessary; OAuth is handled within the connector’s configuration.

Option B (property YAML files with HTTP requests) involves manual setup, which is more error-prone and not recommended.

Option D (manually updating POM file) does not directly aid in invoking an API through Exchange.

ReferencesFor more information on using REST Connect Connectors and OAuth integration in MuleSoft, refer to the MuleSoft documentation on API Management and Connectors??.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Option A

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>> Anypoint API Manager and API policies are applicable to all types of HTTP/1.x APIs.

>> They are not applicable to WebSocket APIs, HTTP/2 APIs and gRPC APIs

When an API implementation is deployed on CloudHub without configuring automatic restarts in case of worker non-responsiveness, MuleSoft’s monitoring and alerting behavior is as follows:

API Invocation Alerts:

If no clients are invoking the API, there will be no invocation alerts triggered, as alerts related to invocations depend on actual client requests.

Implementation-Level Alerts:

Even without invocation, CloudHub can still monitor the state of the API implementation. If the worker becomes unresponsive, an alert related to the API implementation's health or availability could still be raised.

Why Option C is Correct:

This option correctly identifies that no invocation-related alerts would be triggered in the absence of client requests, while implementation-level alerts could still be generated based on the worker's state.

ReferencesFor additional information, check MuleSoft documentation on CloudHub monitoring and alert configurations to understand worker status alerts versus invocation alerts?.

Explanation

Correct Answer: The API policy is defined in API Manager for a specific API instance, and then ONLY applied to the specific API instance.

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>> Once our API specifications are ready and published to Exchange, we need to visit API Manager and register an API instance for each API.

>> API Manager is the place where management of API aspects takes place like addressing NFRs by enforcing policies on them.

>> We can create multiple instances for a same API and manage them differently for different purposes.

>> One instance can have a set of API policies applied and another instance of same API can have different set of policies applied for some other purpose.

>> These APIs and their instances are defined PER environment basis. So, one need to manage them seperately in each environment.

>> We can ensure that same configuration of API instances (SLAs, Policies etc..) gets promoted when promoting to higher environments using platform feature. But this is optional only. Still one can change them per environment basis if they have to.

>> Runtime Manager is the place to manage API Implementations and their Mule Runtimes but NOT APIs itself. Though API policies gets executed in Mule Runtimes, We CANNOT enforce API policies in Runtime Manager. We would need to do that via API Manager only for a cherry picked instance in an environment.

So, based on these facts, right statement in the given choices is - "The API policy is defined in API Manager for a specific API instance, and then ONLY applied to the specific API instance".

Understanding Control and Runtime Planes:

Control Plane: The control plane is responsible for managing, monitoring, and deploying Mule applications. In a Private Cloud Edition (PCE), this control plane is deployed on-premises within the customer’s infrastructure, meeting data residency and security requirements.

Runtime Plane: The runtime plane consists of Mule runtimes that execute Mule applications. By hosting these runtimes within the customer’s infrastructure, data and metadata can remain local, which complies with corporate policies regarding data residency.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A: Using Anypoint Platform Private Cloud Edition for the control plane and the MuleSoft-hosted runtime plane would not meet the requirement, as the runtime plane is hosted by MuleSoft and would not keep data local.

Option B: The MuleSoft-hosted control plane with Anypoint Runtime Fabric for the runtime plane would still mean that metadata is managed in MuleSoft’s cloud, which does not comply with the requirement to keep data and metadata on-premises.

Option C: A MuleSoft-hosted control plane and customer-hosted Mule runtimes also mean that metadata resides in the cloud, not on-premises, failing the residency requirement.

Option D (Correct Answer): Anypoint Platform Private Cloud Edition (PCE) for the control plane and customer-hosted Mule runtimes fulfill both requirements, as both the control plane and runtime plane would be hosted within the customer’s data center.

Conclusion:

Option D is the correct answer, as it ensures that both the control plane and runtime plane are hosted on-premises, allowing data and metadata to reside locally per the corporate IT policy.

Refer to MuleSoft's documentation on Private Cloud Edition deployment and on-premise runtime configurations for further details.

Monitoring On-Premise Mule Applications:

For Mule applications deployed on an on-premises cluster, monitoring detailed performance metrics requires communication with the MuleSoft-hosted control plane. The control plane, when used with on-premises runtimes, relies on Anypoint Monitoring and requires a Monitoring Agent to gather and send detailed performance metrics.

Setting Up Monitoring:

To enable detailed metrics, the Monitoring Agent must be installed on each node in the cluster where Mule applications are deployed. This agent collects data on memory usage, CPU load, response times, and other metrics, and sends it to the control plane for aggregation and visualization.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A: Updating settings in the control plane alone does not enable detailed monitoring; the agent must be installed on each node to capture detailed metrics.

Option B (Correct Answer): Installing the Monitoring Agent on each node ensures that each runtime node in the cluster can send its metrics to the control plane, enabling detailed monitoring.

Option C: Installing the agent on a separate server would not be effective, as each node in the cluster needs to independently report its metrics to ensure full visibility.

Option D: The on-prem runtime does not automatically send detailed metrics to the control plane without the Monitoring Agent installed.

Conclusion:

Option B is the correct answer, as installing the Monitoring Agent on each node is essential for detailed performance monitoring of on-prem applications in a cluster.

Refer to MuleSoft’s documentation on configuring Anypoint Monitoring for on-premises deployments and using the Monitoring Agent.

Explanation

Correct Answer: JSON threat protection

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Fact: Technically, there are no restrictions on what policy can be applied in what layer. Any policy can be applied on any layer API. However, context should also be considered properly before blindly applying the policies on APIs.

That is why, this question asked for a policy that would LEAST likely be applied to a Process API.

From the given options:

>> All policies except "JSON threat protection" can be applied without hesitation to the APIs in Process tier.

>> JSON threat protection policy ideally fits for experience APIs to prevent suspicious JSON payload coming from external API clients. This covers more of a security aspect by trying to avoid possibly malicious and harmful JSON payloads from external clients calling experience APIs.

As external API clients are NEVER allowed to call Process APIs directly and also these kind of malicious and harmful JSON payloads are always stopped at experience API layer only using this policy, it is LEAST LIKELY that this same policy is again applied on Process Layer API.

Scenario Analysis:

The API implementation is experiencing high CPU usage (over 90%) during bursts of requests, which correlates with slow response times, as indicated by a 99th percentile response time greater than 120 seconds.

The API implementation is running on Anypoint Runtime Fabric with two non-clustered replicas and has a reserved vCPU of 1.0 and a vCPU limit of 2.0.

The high CPU usage during bursts suggests that the current resources may not be sufficient to handle peak loads.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A (Correct Answer): Increasing the vCPU resources for each replica would provide more processing power to handle high traffic volumes, potentially reducing the response time during spikes. Since the CPU usage is consistently high during bursts, this option directly addresses the resource bottleneck.

Option B: Modifying the API client to split requests may reduce individual request load but could be complex to implement on the client side and may not fully address the high CPU issue.

Option C: Increasing the number of replicas could help distribute the load; however, with a high CPU load on each replica, adding more replicas without increasing CPU resources may not fully resolve the problem.

Option D: Throttling the client would reduce the number of requests, but this may not be acceptable if the client needs to maintain a high request rate. It also does not directly address the CPU limitations of the API implementation.

Conclusion:

Option A is the best choice as it addresses the root cause of high CPU usage by increasing the vCPU allocation, allowing the API to handle more requests efficiently. This should be pursued first before considering other options.

Refer to MuleSoft’s documentation on Runtime Fabric and vCPU resource allocation for more details on optimizing API performance in high-demand environments.

Security Guidelines Overview:

The production environment is hosted on a dedicated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) on CloudHub 1.0, with a specific requirement from the security team that no traffic should occur over HTTP. This implies that only secure HTTPS traffic should be permitted, and HTTP access (port 8081, the default HTTP port in Mule applications) should be disabled.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A (Correct Answer): Configuring the HTTPS protocol in the HTTP listener in the Mule application ensures that all traffic is encrypted and occurs over HTTPS (port 8092 by default for HTTPS on Mule applications). This directly aligns with the security guideline to prevent unencrypted HTTP traffic.

Option B: Creating a custom policy for incoming and outgoing HTTP requests could provide some control over access, but it does not enforce the use of HTTPS exclusively. This option does not disable HTTP traffic and, therefore, does not meet the guideline effectively.

Option C (Correct Answer): Removing the entry for HTTP (port 8081) in the VPC firewall rule ensures that HTTP traffic is completely blocked at the firewall level. This prevents any HTTP requests from reaching the application, adding a layer of security that complies with the guidelines.

Option D: The IP Blocklist policy controls access based on IP addresses but does not enforce the use of HTTPS. This policy does not address the specific requirement of preventing HTTP traffic.

Option E: Adding a firewall rule entry for HTTP (port 8081) would enable HTTP traffic, which directly contradicts the security guidelines. Therefore, this option should be avoided.

Conclusion:

Option A and Option C are the correct choices. Configuring the HTTPS protocol in the Mule application’s HTTP listener ensures that only HTTPS traffic is allowed, and removing the firewall rule for HTTP (port 8081) blocks any HTTP traffic from reaching the application. Together, these options enforce secure traffic as required by the security guidelines.

Refer to MuleSoft documentation on configuring HTTP listeners and managing VPC firewall rules for further details on implementing these security controls.

Explanation

Correct Answer: The test runs immediately after the Mule application has been compiled and packaged

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>> Integration tests are the last layer of tests we need to add to be fully covered.

>> These tests actually run against Mule running with your full configuration in place and are tested from external source as they work in PROD.

>> These tests exercise the application as a whole with actual transports enabled. So, external systems are affected when these tests run.

So, these tests do NOT run immediately after the Mule application has been compiled and packaged.

FYI... Unit Tests are the one that run immediately after the Mule application has been compiled and packaged.

In MuleSoft CloudHub, autoscaling is essential to managing application load efficiently. CloudHub supports horizontal scaling based on CPU usage, which is well-suited to applications experiencing variable demand and needing responsive resource allocation.

Autoscaling on CloudHub:

Horizontal scaling increases the number of workers in response to CPU usage thresholds, allowing the application to handle higher loads dynamically. This approach improves performance without downtime or manual intervention.

Why Option C is Correct:

Setting up autoscaling based on CPU usage aligns with MuleSoft’s best practices for scalable and responsive applications on CloudHub, particularly in an environment with fluctuating load patterns.

Option C correctly leverages CloudHub’s autoscaling features based on resource metrics, which are part of CloudHub’s managed scaling solutions.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A (based on HTTP request thresholds) and Option B (separate policies for CPU and memory) do not represent CloudHub’s recommended scaling practices.

Option D suggests vertical scaling based on response time, which is not how CloudHub handles autoscaling.

ReferencesFor more on CloudHub’s autoscaling configuration, refer to MuleSoft documentation on CloudHub autoscaling policies?.

OAuth 2.0 and PingFederate Setup:

The organization uses PingFederate as the identity provider, integrated with Anypoint Platform for OAuth 2.0 authentication and authorization.

The PingFederate OAuth 2.0 Token Enforcement policy is applied to the API instances, requiring clients to be registered and authenticated via PingFederate.

Accessing Secured APIs:

API consumers need to register their client applications in Anypoint Exchange to request access to the secured APIs.

The API administrator then reviews and approves the access request in API Manager. This grants the client application a contract, allowing it to access the API using OAuth 2.0 tokens issued by PingFederate.

Evaluating the Options:

Option A: Configuring the client discovery URL in child business groups is not relevant to granting access; this is part of setting up PingFederate, not managing consumer access.

Option B: While creating contracts in API Manager is necessary, this option lacks the detail about the process in Anypoint Exchange, where consumers request access.

Option C (Correct Answer): API consumers must create a client application in Anypoint Exchange to request access to the API, and the API administrator then approves the request in API Manager.

Option D: The access request and approval process happens within Anypoint Platform (Exchange and API Manager), not directly in Ping Identity.

Conclusion:

Option C is the correct answer as it accurately describes the process within Anypoint Platform where API consumers request access through Exchange, and the API administrator approves it.

Refer to MuleSoft's documentation on OAuth 2.0 setup with PingFederate and managing API client access in Exchange and API Manager.

Explanation

Correct Answer: From the Mule runtime irrespective of the deployment model

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>> Monitoring and Alerting metrics are always originated from Mule Runtimes irrespective of the deployment model.

>> It may seems that some metrics (Runtime Manager) are originated from Mule Runtime and some are (API Invocations/ API Analytics) from API Manager. However, this is realistically NOT TRUE. The reason is, API manager is just a management tool for API instances but all policies upon applying on APIs eventually gets executed on Mule Runtimes only (Either Embedded or API Proxy).

>> Similarly all API Implementations also run on Mule Runtimes.

So, most of the day required for monitoring and alerts are originated fron Mule Runtimes only irrespective of whether the deployment model is MuleSoft-hosted or Customer-hosted or Hybrid.

When using CloudHub 1.0’s Shared Load Balancer (SLB) for a Mule application configured with HTTPS in an Anypoint VPC, specific ports must be configured for the application to correctly route incoming traffic:

Port Requirement for SLB:

The CloudHub Shared Load Balancer for HTTPS traffic requires that applications listen on port 8092 for secure (HTTPS) communication. This port is reserved specifically for SSL traffic when using SLB with Anypoint VPCs.

Why Option B is Correct:

Setting the HTTP Listener's connector configuration to 8092 aligns with CloudHub requirements for HTTPS via the Shared Load Balancer.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A (8082) is used for non-HTTPS (HTTP) traffic.

Option C (80) and Option D (443) are standard web ports but are not applicable within CloudHub SLB’s internal configuration for VPC routing.

ReferencesFor more information on the Shared Load Balancer port configurations, refer to MuleSoft’s documentation on CloudHub and VPC load balancer requirements?.

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>> Application Network is a disposable architecture.

>> Which means, it can be altered without disturbing entire architecture and its components.

>> It bends as per requirements or design changes but does not break

Explanation

Correct Answer: Model all API resources and methods to closely mimic the operations of the backend system.

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>> There are NO fixed and straight best practices while opting data models for APIs. They are completly contextual and depends on number of factors. Based upon those factors, an enterprise can choose if they have to go with Enterprise Canonical Data Model or Bounded Context Model etc.

>> One should NEVER expose the technical details of API implementation to their API clients. Only the API interface/ RAML is exposed to API clients.

>> It is true that the RAML definitions of APIs should be as detailed as possible and should reflect most of the documentation. However, just that is NOT enough to call your API as best documented API. There should be even more documentation on Anypoint Exchange with API Notebooks etc. to make and create a developer friendly API and repository..

>> The best practice always when creating System APIs is to create their API interfaces by modeling their resources and methods to closely reflect the operations and functionalities of that backend system.

Explanation

Correct Answer: Implement different system APIs named createCustomer, amendCustomer, retrieveCustomer and suspendCustomer as they are modular and has seperation of concerns

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>> It is quite normal to have a single API and different Verb + Resource combinations. However, this fits well for an Experience API or a Process API but not a best architecture style for System APIs. So, option with just one customerManagement API is not the best choice here.

>> The option with APIs in createCustomerInCRMZ format is next close choice w.r.t modularization and less maintenance but the naming of APIs is directly coupled with the legacy system. A better foreseen approach would be to name your APIs by abstracting the backend system names as it allows seamless replacement/migration of any backend system anytime. So, this is not the correct choice too.

>> createCustomer, amendCustomer, retrieveCustomer and suspendCustomer is the right approach and is the best fit compared to other options as they are both modular and same time got the names decoupled from backend system and it has covered all requirements a System API needs.

Explanation

Correct Answer: API-led connectivity is not just an architecture or technology but also a way to organize people and processes for efficient IT delivery in the organization.

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MUnit is MuleSoft’s testing framework for creating and running automated tests within Anypoint Studio. It is specifically designed for unit testing Mule applications and is best suited when testing doesn’t require understanding the inner workings or implementation details of the components being tested.

Ideal Use Cases for MUnit:

MUnit is optimal when testing individual flows, functions, or components in isolation. This type of testing focuses on verifying the behavior of each unit without needing to understand the complete system.

Since unit tests do not require external integrations or dependencies to be live, mocking is commonly used in MUnit to simulate the behavior of external services and APIs.

Why Option B is Correct:

Option B aligns with the concept of unit testing, where the emphasis is on testing functionality rather than system integration. Integration tests, on the other hand, would require implementation knowledge and live endpoints, making them unsuitable for MUnit’s scope.

Explanation of Incorrect Options:

Option A (read-only interactions) and Option C (no mocking) do not suit MUnit’s typical testing environment as MUnit is designed with mocking capabilities to simulate dependencies.

Option D (SoapUI-based tests) suggests an external testing tool, while MUnit is specific to MuleSoft.

ReferencesFor more on MUnit best practices, refer to MuleSoft’s MUnit documentation?.