Why production dbt needs automation - Challenge Your Understanding

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Why automate dbt runs in production?

Which of the following best explains why automation is important for running dbt in production?

A Automation replaces the need for testing dbt models before deployment.

B Automation allows dbt to create models faster than manual runs.

C Automation ensures dbt models run consistently and on schedule without manual intervention.

D Automation is only needed to reduce cloud costs when running dbt.

💡 Hint

Think about reliability and repeatability in production workflows.

Automation helps run dbt models reliably and on a set schedule, avoiding human errors and delays.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

Output of a scheduled dbt run log

Given this simplified log snippet from an automated dbt run, what is the final status?

2024-06-01 02:00:00 Running dbt models...
2024-06-01 02:05:00 All models completed successfully
2024-06-01 02:05:01 Job finished

A Job status unknown

B Job completed successfully

C Job was cancelled midway

D Job failed due to model errors

💡 Hint

Look for keywords indicating success or failure.

The log shows all models completed successfully and the job finished, so the status is success.

❓ data_output

advanced

Result of automated dbt run with failure

Consider an automated dbt run that fails on one model due to a syntax error. Which output best represents the error summary?

A {"status": "failure", "failed_models": 1, "error": "syntax error in model 'orders'"}

B {"status": "success", "failed_models": 0}

C {"status": "failure", "failed_models": 2, "error": "missing table"}

D {"status": "success", "failed_models": 1}

💡 Hint

Focus on the number of failed models and error message clarity.

When a syntax error occurs in one model, the status is failure with one failed model and a clear error message.

❓ visualization

advanced

Interpreting dbt run schedule visualization

You see a line chart showing dbt run durations over a week. On which day does automation likely fail?

Day: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Duration (min): 5 5 5 30 5

A Monday

B Friday

C Wednesday

D Thursday

💡 Hint

Look for unusual spikes in run time.

The spike on Thursday suggests a problem causing longer run time or failure.

🚀 Application

expert

Choosing automation tools for production dbt

You want to automate dbt runs in production with notifications on failure. Which tool combination is best?

A Use a cloud scheduler with integrated alerting and dbt Cloud for orchestration

B Manually run dbt daily and check logs for errors

C Run dbt only when data engineers remember and notify via chat

D Use cron jobs to schedule dbt runs and email alerts on failure

💡 Hint

Consider reliability, alerting, and ease of management.

Cloud schedulers with alerting and dbt Cloud provide reliable automation and notifications for production.