The namenode knows that the data node is active using a mechanism known as

active pulse
data pulse
heartbeats
h-signal

The correct answer is C. heartbeats.

Heartbeats are a mechanism used by the namenode to keep track of the health of the data nodes in a Hadoop cluster. The namenode periodically sends heartbeat requests to the data nodes, and the data nodes respond with heartbeat responses. If the namenode does not receive a heartbeat response from a data node within a certain period of time, it will mark the data node as dead and remove it from the cluster.

Active pulse and data pulse are not valid terms in the context of Hadoop. H-signal is a term used in the context of high-performance computing (HPC), but it is not relevant to the question.

Here is a more detailed explanation of each option:

  • Active pulse: This is not a valid term in the context of Hadoop.
  • Data pulse: This is not a valid term in the context of Hadoop.
  • Heartbeats: Heartbeats are a mechanism used by the namenode to keep track of the health of the data nodes in a Hadoop cluster. The namenode periodically sends heartbeat requests to the data nodes, and the data nodes respond with heartbeat responses. If the namenode does not receive a heartbeat response from a data node within a certain period of time, it will mark the data node as dead and remove it from the cluster.
  • H-signal: This is a term used in the context of high-performance computing (HPC), but it is not relevant to the question.