The InfiniBand HCA firmware on the storage server, if updated, may require that a patch also be applied to the database servers in an Exadata X6 Database Machine. The reason for this is that InfiniBand is used for communication between the storage servers and the database servers. Ensuring compatibility and proper communication across these components is crucial, which may necessitate corresponding updates to both the storage servers and the database servers.

SNMP traps are commonly used to send notifications from both database servers and storage servers to ASR Manager. This fits the descriptions in options A and B. When a component fault occurs, fault telemetry is securely transmitted to Oracle via HTTPS, which aligns with option D. Thus, the correct statements about this configuration are that SNMP traps are used to send notifications from database and storage servers, and that fault telemetry is securely transmitted to Oracle via HTTPS.

RMAN incremental level-1 backups for a database running on an X5 Database Machine use advanced features to optimize the backup process. Firstly, `cellsrv` filters blocks and only returns those that have changed since the last backup in databases running in archivelog mode, which optimizes the data transfer and reduces the amount of data processed for backup. Secondly, while `cellsrv` returns all blocks that have been or might have been changed since the last backup, RMAN then further filters these blocks to determine which ones actually need backing up, thereby enhancing the backup efficiency. Therefore, the correct statements are that cellsrv plays a crucial role in filtering the blocks and RMAN further refines which blocks need to be backed up.

Storage server alerts notifications may be sent using SNMP, which is one of the standard methods for monitoring network-connected devices. Notifications may also be sent using SMTP, which is commonly used for sending emails triggered by alerts. A threshold-based alert gets cleared automatically when the measured value no longer violates the threshold, aligning with the behavior of stateful alerts that auto clear upon normalization. However, storage server alerts are not limited to warnings or critical situations, and they can include informational alerts as well. Additionally, alerts can be both stateless and stateful, further invalidating the exclusivity suggested by some incorrect options.

Backups are fast when using Recovery Manager (RMAN) on an X5 Database Machine due to several factors. Firstly, the use of Infiniband network, which is faster than traditional fiber channel storage, significantly speeds up RMAN read I/O operations, making backups faster compared to traditional storage networks. Secondly, for incremental backups, RMAN's Block Change Tracking allows cellsrv to filter and return only the blocks that have changed since the last backup. This selective process minimizes the amount of data that needs to be read and backed up, further enhancing performance.