IBM Tivoli Interview Questions and Answers

Generally, it is difficult for large organizations to keep track of their larger office equipment or other software products. That is where IBM Tivoli comes into the picture and is so widely used in the industry. It is used to monitor decentralized computing systems, applications' performance, and accessibility. As the use of this software grows, businesses are constantly on the lookout for candidates with IBM Tivoli expertise.

If you are gearing up for an IBM Tivoli interview and are unsure how to crack the questionnaire or the difficulty level of the questions that will be asked in an interview, then do read this blog till the end, as our experts have conducted extensive research to compile the best IBM Tivoli Interview Questions that you may encounter during your job interview.

Top Frequently Asked IBM Tivoli Interview Questions

1. What is Serialization?
2. What are the stages of ITNM discovery?
3. What are the different connector modes available in TDI?
4. Provide a high-level overview of the TADDM components.
5. What are the TADDM's advantages?
6. What are the picture library's two primary catalogs?
7. How will you determine whether tape errors occurred?
8. What is the purpose of a backup of a storage pool?
9. What is TMR?
10. What Purpose Does Reclamation Serve?

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IBM Tivoli Interview Questions and Answers

1. What is Serialization?

It defines how Tivoli Storage Manager handles changed types of files during restore processing.

2. What does migration involve? What purpose does it serve?

Client files are transferred from one virtual disk to the next in the storage architecture via migration. Migration creates some vacant space in disc pools that may be used for client machine backups.

3. What are the stages of ITNM discovery?

Mainly on the Network Discovery Status page, you can check the status of the discovery. The progress field in the Discovery Phase-field indicates how the discovery is progressing:

1. The discovery phase is on Standby till the first connection is identified.
2. Following the discovery of the first connection, the state changes to the Investigating Network.
3. The Processed IP Addresses section rises in size as additional connections are identified.

Following that, the discovery progresses through the following statuses:

• ARP is being downloaded.
• Connections for Downloading
• Connectivity Correlations.
• Once the identification has been made, the status reverts to Idle.

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4. What are the different connector modes available in TDI?

• Iterator. 
• Connector for Lookup. 
• Update. 
• Delta.
• Delete. 
• Server.

5. How are you going to clean the drive?

Generally, tape libraries will have dedicated cleaning drives; we simply need to mount these using the Library GUI or perform the "clean drive" operation from TSM Server; this will also install the cleaning tape into the disc and begin cleaning.

6. Provide a high-level overview of the TADDM components.

• Discovery Manager - A server that runs the TADDM discovery procedures.
• Administrative Dashboard - It displays information about the server's status, runtime, and licensing.
• Discovery Agent - A Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring and running discovery procedures.
• Domain Administrator - A portal within the administrative console to examine and manage all of your system elements.
• Hook Servers - These are necessary to conduct discovery operations within firewall zones.
• Windows Interface Server - These are necessary for Windows systems to be discovered.

7. What are the TADDM's advantages?

The following are the advantages of TADDM:

• TADDM gives details regarding the program that is presently executing on the network.
• TADDM assists you in comprehending your organization's computer infrastructure.
• We learn about which apps and services are installed on the network using TADDM.
• Additionally, TADDM may establish links between software and systems.
• TADDM enables us to diagnose network-related issues.
• TADDM enables us to ascertain the compliance issue.

8. How do you define collocation? Where are you going to update it?

Collocation is the process of storing client backup data on the fewest possible tapes. Collocation can be accomplished using nodes, node groups, or Filespace. Collocation will be updated when we define or update storage pool definitions.

9. Can you provide a brief description of the CMDB?

It is a data repository or conceptual data collection that contains all of the details about an organization's information technology assets. It keeps track of these commodities and their modifications. If handled properly, it can develop into a trustworthy and comprehensive source of information.

The primary distinction between the CMDB and other data repositories is the establishment of relationships between Application Components.

10. What distinguishes business service management from other types of management?

The following items are included in Business Service Management:

• Tivoli Business Solutions Administrator.
• Tivoli Service Level Advisor.
• Tivoli Enterprise Portal.
• Tivoli Netview.

11. What are the picture library's two primary catalogs?

• Stored Images.
• Master Images.

12. How does ITNM define domain-specific configuration settings?

Although specific files are unlikely to require modification, in reality, any of the following file formats can be made domain-specific in theory:

• All files ending in .cfg are configuration files.
• All files ending in .agnt are discovery agent files. 
• All files ending in .aoc are active object class files.

13. In ITNM, how can we assign a poller for MIB graphing?

If additional pollers have been defined and you wish to assign one to manage MIB graphing, modify the properties folder. Before editing the document, you should have constructed the poller that will be used for MIB graphing.

14. How will you determine whether tape errors occurred?

We may check for devices & read-write problems in “actlog” by using the "q actlog se=errors" command.

15. What are Virtual Machine Ware Agent Maintenance Files?

• REMOTE TEMP
• TEPS
• HTEMS
• TEPS Desktop.

16. How large is the audit volume?

The audit volume tool is used to verify that there are no discrepancies between database files and the contents of a storage pool volume.

17. Will Lanfree data be written to the disc pool?

No, Lanfree information will be stored on tape/tape pools directly. If we have a disc library in a SAN, we can submit lanfree to discs, but another software is required.

18. What is the purpose of a backup of a storage pool?

If the main pool volumes have any read/write errors, we can recover them from the duplicate pool volumes.

19. What Are The Prerequisites For Deploying ITM VMWare Agent?

Hardware:

VMWare Agent v.6.2.1 requires 200MB of disc space on the client machine.

Software: 

IBM Tivoli Monitoring V6.2.2 is required to install VMWare Agent.

20. What Are The VMware Environments That Can Be Monitored Through The Use Of The VMware Vi Agent?

• VMware Virtual Center
• VMware ESX Server 3.5 or a later version 
• VMware ESXi Server 3.5 or a later version 

21. What is TMR?

TMR is an abbreviation for Tivoli Management Region. It is a bundle of resources that are managed centrally by a single server. Each TME has a distinct clientele. Tivoli does not allow more than one TMR at a time, although one or more TMRs can be interconnected.

22. What Is The Difference Between Yes And Bulk Search In The Label Command?

• YES – Indicates that the server will only identify volumes that are physically saved in the repository.
• BULK – Indicates that the server should scan the library's entry/exit endpoints for labelable volumes.

23. How many categories do Tivoli fall under?

IBM Tivoli software is classified into six categories:

• Availability.
• Management of Business Services.
• Orchestration.
• Management of Security.
• Solution for storage and optimization.

24. What Purpose Does Reclamation Serve?

Reclamation restores usable space on discs that have been fragmented by transferring any surviving files from one drive to another. This operation reclaims the original volume.

25. Is There Any Possibility Of Using Reclamation To Move Dormant Data From One Volume To Another?

No, reclamation will not only relocate active data.