What makes the question from yesterday a trick question? A trick question is one that can be interpreted in more than one way. The answer to it can be very different depending on just a few words. Let me show you what I mean.
As written, the correct answer is b…6g. The problem is there are two ways to get the same answer. I tried to make it a bit simpler because I didn’t want the example to be a math question. The thing you have to think about though is what if instead of 2g on the first drive, we only had 1g. What would the answer be then? Some people would assume that the answer then would have to be 3g. They would see that there is only 1g on the first drive, realize that you have to take the same amount from each drive and then subtract the equivalent of one drive’s worth of space for parity information. That gives 3g. The problem is, that ISN’T the largest available you could have. What if you leave out the first drive? If you have only the 3 drives with 3 or more gigs free, you are back to having a 6g volume (3 per drive minus one drive for parity). What does all this mean?
It means that the four words “using all available drives” could make a big difference. Just like making a striped volume with or without parity makes a big difference. That to me, is the essence of a trick question. If you read it too fast, because you are under the time pressure of the exam, you might miss the important part. You have to strike a balance between fast reading (to make the end of time deadline) and skipping the important part of the question.
Next time I want to look at how we can read the questions a bit more intelligently to help with that.
Any questions?
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