Foundation Level · Pure Storage Certified

DSA
Pure Storage Certified
Data Storage Associate

The ideal starting point for your Pure Storage journey. Validate your knowledge of a complete multi-vendor enterprise storage solution — covering networking, virtualisation and containers, storage technology, cloud, data protection, and host fundamentals.

DSA Data Storage Associate Pure Storage Foundation Fibre Channel iSCSI NVMe-oF Virtualisation Containers Cloud Storage Data Protection Snapshots Ransomware Protection

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DSA — Data Storage Associate

Pure Storage Certified — Foundation

Exam CodeDSA

CredentialData Storage Associate

VendorPure Storage

LevelAssociate (Foundation)

Experience3–6 Months+

Time Limit120 Minutes

StatusActive

Domains

Questions

2 hr

Duration

Assoc

Level

Certification Overview

What This Certification Validates

The DSA certification highlights your knowledge of a complete multi-vendor enterprise storage solution. It demonstrates that you have the networking, virtualisation and container, storage, cloud, data protection, and host knowledge needed to operate industry-recognised storage technology and solutions — making it the ideal entry point for a career in Pure Storage.

The exam covers 6 domains: Networking (30%), Virtualisation and Containers (20%), Data Protection (20%), Cloud (15%), Storage Technology (10%), and Hosts (5%) — with 60 scored questions in 120 minutes. Recommended for candidates with 3–6 months+ of storage or IT experience.

Exam Domains

Domain Weightings

1. Networking 30%

2. Virtualisation & Containers 20%

3. Data Protection 20%

4. Cloud 15%

5. Storage Technology 10%

6. Hosts 5%

Skills & Knowledge

What You Will Learn

Recognise Fibre Channel and Ethernet networking concepts, identify switch types and connector options, understand multipathing, ECMP/FSPF load balancing, and explain iSCSI protocols for storage networking

Differentiate bare metal and virtualised storage use cases, understand the impact of oversubscription on storage performance, and identify container types and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes

Describe storage access protocols (FC, iSCSI, NFS, NVMe-oF), explain DAS/SAN/NAS use cases, RAID and erasure coding schemes, and compare scale-up vs scale-out and active-active vs active-passive architectures

Identify cloud storage providers, explain public/private/hybrid cloud benefits, and determine when to apply file, block, or object storage types to different cloud deployment scenarios

Understand replication types (sync, async, NearSync), RPO/RTO disaster recovery concepts, snapshot technology, application vs crash consistency, encryption, and ransomware prevention techniques

Understand host connectivity to storage — HBA types, initiator/target relationships, host-based multipathing, and how hosts present storage volumes to operating systems and applications

Who Should Attend

Target Audience

IT beginners and career changers with 3–6 months of storage or IT experience who want a vendor-recognised foundation credential to kickstart their journey in enterprise storage and Pure Storage technology

Networking and systems administrators who want to expand their knowledge into enterprise storage, data protection, and cloud — and validate that breadth with a Pure Storage Associate certification

Pure Storage career-path starters who plan to progress to FlashArray (FASP), FlashBlade (FBSP), Cloud (CBSS/DPP), or Platform Expert (PAE) certifications and need DSA as their foundation credential

Students in IT infrastructure programmes and boot-camp graduates who want a real-world storage certification to strengthen their resume and demonstrate multi-vendor enterprise storage knowledge to employers

Exam at a Glance

Exam CodeDSA

CredentialData Storage Associate

VendorPure Storage

Questions60 Scored Questions

Time Limit120 Minutes

LevelAssociate (Foundation)

Experience3–6 Months+

Domains6 Exam Domains

Zetlan Technologies covers all 6 DSA domains with expert-led foundation training — the ideal first step on the Pure Storage certification path.

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Course Curriculum

DSA — 6 Exam Domains

Click any domain to explore the full topic coverage for the Pure Storage Data Storage Associate exam.

Networking

30% Weight

Fibre Channel Fundamentals

Recognise Fibre Channel and differentiate it from Ethernet — topology, speeds, and storage networking use cases

Identify switch types, cable and connector options for FC and Ethernet storage networks

Explain Fibre Channel concepts — WWN addressing, fabric login, name server, zoning, and SCSI over FC

Recognise different load balancing algorithms — ECMP (Equal Cost Multi-Path) and FSPF (Fabric Shortest Path First)

Multipathing and Ethernet Protocols

Understand multipathing — how to efficiently use multiple I/O paths to improve performance and provide failover

Define technologies for maximising throughput across Fibre Channel and Ethernet networks — trunking, bonding, jumbo frames

Explain iSCSI concepts — initiator/target addressing, discovery, sessions, and iSCSI over Ethernet networks

Explain Ethernet concepts relevant to storage — VLANs, flow control, DCB, and converged network adapters (CNAs)

Virtualisation and Containers

20% Weight

Virtualisation Concepts

Identify the difference between bare metal and virtualised server storage — direct attachment vs shared storage, RDM vs VMDK, vSphere datastore types

Recognise the impact of oversubscription on storage performance in virtualised environments — CPU, memory, and I/O oversubscription effects

Container and Orchestration Fundamentals

Identify different types of containers and orchestration platforms — Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift — and their persistent storage requirements

Storage Technology

10% Weight

Storage Protocols and Architecture

Describe storage access protocols — FC, iSCSI, NFS, NVMe-oF — and when to apply each protocol type

Define networking requirements for various storage types — FC fabric, IP SAN, NAS networking

Explain the storage access layer for block storage — LUN, volume, host group, and masking/mapping

Recognise use cases for DAS (Direct Attached Storage), SAN, and NAS — workload suitability and access characteristics

Media Types and Data Protection Schemes

Recognise different data protection schemes — RAID levels, erasure coding, and their trade-offs in capacity, performance, and rebuild time

Differentiate between disk, flash, and RAM storage — latency, throughput, durability, and use case characteristics

Recognise use cases for different storage types and indicate architectural advantages of scale-up vs scale-out and active-active vs active-passive

Cloud

15% Weight

Cloud Storage Concepts

Identify different cloud storage providers — AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and their native storage services

Recognise benefits of public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud — elasticity, cost models, control, and latency trade-offs

Identify when to apply file, block, or object storage types to cloud deployments — workload suitability and access pattern considerations

Data Protection

20% Weight

Replication and Recovery Concepts

Recognise benefits of synchronous, asynchronous, and NearSync replication technologies — RPO characteristics and use cases for each

Recognise disaster recovery concepts — Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Recovery Time Objective (RTO), and fault domains

Identify different backup solutions — agent-based, agentless, snapshot-based, and cloud backup strategies

Snapshots, Security, and Ransomware

Describe snapshot technology — space-efficient snapshots, application-consistent vs crash-consistent snapshots, and recovery workflows

Explain differences between application consistency and crash consistency — implications for recovery of databases and transactional workloads

Define security domains — authentication, authorisation, and accountability (AAA) in storage environments

Discuss benefits of encryption — data-at-rest and in-flight encryption, key management, and which data should be encrypted

Recognise how to prevent and mitigate ransomware attacks — immutable snapshots, air-gapped copies, and anomaly detection

Hosts

5% Weight

Host Storage Connectivity

Understand host connectivity to storage arrays — HBA types (FC HBA, iSCSI HBA, CNA), initiator/target relationships, and host registration on storage arrays

Understand host-based multipathing implementations — MPIO on Windows, dm-multipath on Linux, and how operating systems present storage volumes to applications

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DSA — Pure Storage Certified Data Storage Associate certification?

DSA is the foundation-level Pure Storage certification covering multi-vendor enterprise storage knowledge — networking (FC, iSCSI, Ethernet), virtualisation, containers, storage technology (DAS/SAN/NAS, RAID, flash vs disk), cloud, data protection (snapshots, replication, ransomware), and host connectivity. It validates that you have the broad foundational knowledge to operate industry-standard storage technology and solutions.

Is the DSA a good starting certification for beginners?

Yes — DSA is specifically designed as the entry point on the Pure Storage certification ladder. It requires only 3–6 months of IT experience and covers vendor-neutral storage fundamentals, making it accessible to beginners, career changers, students, and networking/systems professionals expanding into storage.

Which certifications can I pursue after the DSA?

After DSA you can specialise into: FlashArray (FASP — Storage Professional, FAIS — Implementation Specialist, FASS — Support Specialist), FlashBlade (FBSP, FBIS, FBSS), Cloud & Data Protection (CBSS — Cloud Block Store Specialist, DPP — Data Protection Professional), or continue on the Platform & Career path toward MGS (Migration Specialist) and PAE (Platform Architect Expert).

Does the DSA exam have prerequisites?

There are no formal prerequisites for the DSA exam. Pure Storage recommends 3–6 months of IT or storage experience. The exam is multi-vendor and tests broad conceptual knowledge — not Pure Storage-specific product knowledge.

What does Zetlan Technologies provide for DSA training?

Zetlan Technologies delivers DSA training covering all 6 exam domains — Networking, Virtualisation & Containers, Storage Technology, Cloud, Data Protection, and Hosts — with expert instruction and exam-focused preparation. It is the ideal starting point for your Pure Storage certification path. Contact us for a free counselling session.

DSAPure Storage CertifiedData Storage Associate