Last Attempt B2C-Commerce-Architect Questions

The appropriate tool to verify that the problem is indeed caused by the inventory check at the beginning of checkout is the Pipeline Profiler in Business Manager. This tool allows an architect to analyze the performance of specific code execution paths, including those involving third-party API calls. It helps identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the pipeline execution, particularly useful in situations where custom code like inventory checks may impact site functionality. The use of the Pipeline Profiler would enable the architect to pinpoint if the custom inventory check is causing the checkout process to fail or redirect users inappropriately.

For implementing CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection correctly, especially in forms like promotion code submissions during checkout, best practices include:

• Option A (Ensure the CSRF protection is validated on form submission): It is crucial to validate the CSRF token upon the form's submission to ensure that the request originates from a legitimate source and corresponds to the user's intended actions, enhancing security against CSRF attacks.
• Option D (Only use POST methods over HTTPS): Using POST methods for transmitting form data helps mitigate the risk of CSRF attacks as opposed to GET methods which can be manipulated more easily via URL. Ensuring the communication is overHTTPS encrypts the transmission, securing the data from interception or tampering during transit.

These practices safeguard against common security vulnerabilities and ensure that the application adheres to secure coding standards.

For Northern Trail Outfitters to ensure that only products available in a customer’s closest physical store are shown:

• Option Bis effective because it organizes inventory by store-specific categories, which can then be dynamically linked to a customer’s location via their postal/zip code. This allows the system to filter search results based on the relevant category that corresponds to the closest store.
• Option Dleverages separate pricebooks that are specific to each store, enabling product availability to be managed through price refinements. This method also uses the customer's zip code to activate the appropriate pricebook, ensuring that only products priced (and thus available) in the nearest store are displayed.

Both methods are scalable and integrate seamlessly with the existing infrastructure of the Salesforce B2C Commerce platform.

The risks associated with the proposed real-time inventory update solution during flash sales are:

• Option A (The default rate limiter configuration for the web-service could cause the web-service to return an exception during high traffic): This is a critical risk because high traffic during flash sales could exceed the rate limits set for the web-service, leading to exceptions and potentially failing to update inventory in real-time.
• Option B (If the external hosted web-service is unreliable, it could be a point of failure in the site’s order placement flow): Reliance on an external web-service for crucial operations like inventory updates introduces a risk of downtime or performance issues if the service is unreliable, directly impacting the ability to complete orders during peak sales periods.

Both risks could severely disrupt operations during critical sales events, suggesting a need for robust contingency plans and potentially reevaluating the solution architecture to ensure reliability.