Nutanix NCP-US v6.5 Exam Dumps & Practice Test Questions

Question 1:

Before performing a one-click upgrade of ESXi hypervisors in a VMware cluster running Nutanix File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs), which step must the IT administrator take to ensure a smooth upgrade without service disruption?

A. Enable anti-affinity rules on all FSVMs
B. Manually migrate the FSVMs
C. Disable anti-affinity rules on all FSVMs
D. Shut down the FSVMs

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

When upgrading ESXi hypervisors in a VMware cluster that hosts Nutanix File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs), proper preparation is critical to prevent service interruptions. Nutanix’s one-click hypervisor upgrade automates the process of upgrading each host sequentially, but this requires the cluster to be flexible in migrating VMs.

Anti-affinity rules are VMware cluster settings designed to keep certain VMs, such as FSVMs, on separate hosts to improve availability. These rules ensure that if one host fails, not all FSVMs are impacted simultaneously, maintaining high availability for file services. While these rules are vital during normal operations, they create constraints during an upgrade because they prevent FSVMs from being moved to the same host undergoing maintenance.

If the anti-affinity rules remain active during the upgrade, the Nutanix upgrade process cannot migrate FSVMs off hosts being upgraded, potentially causing the upgrade to fail or resulting in downtime for file services. To avoid this, administrators must temporarily disable the anti-affinity rules before starting the upgrade. Disabling these rules allows FSVMs to be live-migrated freely across hosts, ensuring continuous availability and a smooth upgrade process.

Other options are less suitable: enabling anti-affinity rules will block migrations; manually migrating FSVMs is unnecessary since the upgrade tool handles migration; shutting down FSVMs would disrupt file services completely, which is unacceptable.

Hence, temporarily disabling anti-affinity rules is the necessary step for a successful, uninterrupted upgrade.

Question 2:

What are the minimum and maximum object sizes allowed for objects to be automatically tiered across storage classes in Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering?

A. Minimum 64 KiB and maximum 15 TiB
B. Minimum 64 KiB and maximum 5 TiB
C. Minimum 128 KiB and maximum 15 TiB
D. Minimum 128 KiB and maximum 5 TiB

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering is designed to optimize storage costs by automatically moving objects between frequent and infrequent access tiers based on their usage patterns. This dynamic tiering helps reduce costs without requiring manual intervention. However, the effectiveness of this system depends on object size constraints.

The minimum object size for Intelligent-Tiering to automatically move data is 128 KiB. Objects smaller than this size remain in the frequent access tier regardless of usage because the overhead cost of moving small objects between tiers would outweigh any potential savings. This size threshold ensures that the tiering process is cost-effective.

On the upper end, the maximum object size supported by S3 (and therefore Intelligent-Tiering) is 5 TiB. This limit is consistent across all S3 storage classes due to the inherent constraints of S3’s object storage system. Objects larger than 5 TiB cannot be uploaded or tiered in S3.

Thus, only objects between 128 KiB and 5 TiB are eligible for automatic tiering in Intelligent-Tiering. When designing storage solutions, understanding these limits is essential to avoid unexpected costs. For example, storing very small files in Intelligent-Tiering may result in charges for tiering without realizing any cost benefits, while files larger than 5 TiB must be handled differently.

In summary, the minimum size of 128 KiB and the maximum size of 5 TiB define the range of objects that can benefit from Intelligent-Tiering’s automatic cost savings.

Question 3:

What is a vital network requirement that must be met when configuring and deploying Smart Disaster Recovery (Smart DR) for a file server environment?

A. Smart DR needs a one-to-many file share configuration.
B. The primary and recovery file servers must share the same domain name.
C. TCP port 7515 must be open on all client-facing IP addresses, allowing one-way communication from the source to the recovery file servers.
D. At least three file servers must be registered in the Files Manager system.

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

Smart Disaster Recovery (Smart DR) is designed to automate file replication and failover between file servers, enhancing data availability and disaster resilience. To operate effectively, Smart DR relies heavily on proper network configurations that enable secure and consistent data transfer from the primary source server to the recovery target server.

One of the most crucial requirements during deployment is ensuring that TCP port 7515 is open on all relevant network interfaces exposed to clients. This port serves as the communication channel through which Smart DR replicates file data and synchronizes metadata between the source and recovery servers. Importantly, this communication is unidirectional—meaning data flows only from the source to the recovery server, which is essential for maintaining data integrity and preventing replication conflicts.

Without this port being accessible and properly configured in firewalls or network security groups, Smart DR cannot perform its core function of replication, thus defeating the purpose of disaster recovery.

Looking at the other options:

• Option A is incorrect because Smart DR does not require a one-to-many file share structure exclusively; it supports various deployment topologies.

• Option B is wrong because the servers do not need to share the same domain name; what matters is proper authentication and network trust relationships.

• Option D is incorrect as there is no minimum requirement of three servers; Smart DR can operate with just a primary and recovery server.

Therefore, ensuring TCP port 7515 is open with the correct unidirectional traffic settings is the fundamental prerequisite for Smart DR deployment, making option C the right answer.

Question 4:

When launching file service instances in a cloud or virtualized infrastructure, which two minimum resource allocations must be met on each host machine? (Choose two.)

A. 12 GiB of RAM per host
B. 8 virtual CPUs per host
C. 4 virtual CPUs per host
D. 8 GiB of RAM per host

Correct Answers: C, D

Explanation:

Deploying file instances in cloud or virtualized environments requires careful allocation of system resources to maintain optimal performance and stability. File instances, often deployed as virtual machines or containers, handle critical file system operations such as read/write requests, metadata processing, and file locking. Because of their workload, these instances need sufficient CPU power and memory.

The baseline hardware requirements typically include at least 4 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) and 8 GiB of RAM per host machine. Allocating 4 vCPUs ensures the file instance has enough processing power to manage multiple simultaneous operations efficiently. This includes handling concurrent file access, managing metadata queries, and supporting caching mechanisms to improve responsiveness.

Similarly, a minimum of 8 GiB RAM is necessary for efficient file caching, buffering I/O operations, and maintaining system metadata. Insufficient RAM could cause slowdowns under moderate or heavy loads, as the file instance would struggle to keep frequently accessed data readily available.

Options A and B (12 GiB RAM and 8 vCPUs) represent configurations that are more suited to high-performance environments or production workloads with higher demand. While beneficial for scalability and throughput, these are not the minimum necessary resources.

In conclusion, to meet the minimal operational standards for deploying file service instances in virtualized or cloud environments, each host must be provisioned with at least 4 virtual CPUs and 8 GiB of RAM. These settings ensure smooth, reliable service delivery without unnecessary over-provisioning, confirming options C and D as the correct choices.

Question 5:

An IT administrator notices that users cannot access shared files and folders within a Nutanix cluster. Investigation reveals the file server services are offline, disrupting network-wide file availability. To fix this issue, the administrator wants to identify which background service controls the file server functionality in the Nutanix cluster and should be checked first.

Which service is primarily responsible for managing the file server operations and should be the first focus during troubleshooting?

A. cassandra
B. insights_collector
C. minerva_nvm
D. sys_stats_server

Correct Answer: C

Explanation:

In Nutanix clusters, multiple background services manage different core functions such as storage, monitoring, and file services. When file access fails, it’s vital to pinpoint which service specifically governs the file server to resolve the problem quickly.

The service to investigate first is minerva_nvm. This service is integral to Nutanix Files—Nutanix’s distributed file storage solution formerly called Acropolis File Services (AFS). Minerva_nvm manages the file server nodes and orchestrates file sharing services within the Nutanix environment, making it the key service responsible for file accessibility.

To clarify why the other services are not the focus:

• cassandra is used for metadata and cluster state management, supporting storage fabric but not directly handling file services.

• insights_collector gathers telemetry data for analytics and support but doesn’t influence file server operations.

• sys_stats_server collects system health and performance metrics, useful for diagnostics but unrelated to file service management.

When users cannot access shared files, checking the status of minerva_nvm via Prism (Nutanix’s management interface) or CLI tools is critical. Problems with this service can arise from misconfigurations, communication errors among nodes, or resource limitations, causing file services to go offline. Restarting or troubleshooting minerva_nvm often restores normal file service functionality.

In summary, for Nutanix file server issues, focusing on minerva_nvm is the most effective initial troubleshooting step.

Question 6:

Within Nutanix Unified Storage architecture, which feature delivers centralized monitoring and analytics, enabling administrators to gain comprehensive insights into storage consumption, capacity trends, and health status across all Nutanix Files deployments worldwide?

A. Files Manager
B. Data Lens
C. Nutanix Cloud Manager
D. File Analytics

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Nutanix Unified Storage integrates file, object, and block storage into a cohesive, software-defined solution. Nutanix Files is the distributed file storage service within this architecture. As enterprises deploy Nutanix Files across multiple clusters and locations, centralized visibility becomes essential for efficient management.

This need is fulfilled by Data Lens, a cloud-native analytics and monitoring platform embedded in the Nutanix ecosystem. Data Lens aggregates telemetry data from all Nutanix Files instances across different geographies, delivering a global perspective on storage usage, operational health, and capacity trends—all accessible through a unified web interface.

Key benefits of Data Lens include:

• Global Analytics: It consolidates file activity data from multiple deployments, providing a holistic view of file system usage across the entire enterprise.

• Capacity and Usage Insights: Data Lens tracks storage growth, usage patterns, and trends to support proactive capacity planning and optimization.

• Security Monitoring: It detects unusual access patterns, helping identify potential insider threats or ransomware activity, thereby enhancing compliance and governance.

• User Behavior Tracking: Admins gain visibility into who accessed what files and when, improving auditing and operational transparency.

In contrast, the other options serve different scopes:

• Files Manager is a localized management tool for individual Nutanix Files clusters, lacking global monitoring capabilities.

• Nutanix Cloud Manager focuses on overall infrastructure management and automation but does not specialize in file-level analytics.

• File Analytics provides detailed insights at the individual deployment level but doesn’t aggregate data globally.

For organizations with distributed Nutanix Files environments, Data Lens is essential for comprehensive, centralized monitoring that improves operational efficiency, security, and resource planning.

Question 7:

When designing storage solutions for applications that are highly dependent on sequential input/output (I/O) operations and require optimal performance.

Which performance metric should be prioritized when assessing file share capabilities?

A. Number of concurrent connections
B. Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS)
C. Throughput (MB/s)
D. Block size used in data transfers

Answer: C

Explanation:

In performance-sensitive environments where applications predominantly perform sequential I/O operations—such as video streaming, large-scale backups, or file transfers—the most relevant performance indicator is throughput, measured in megabytes per second (MB/s). Sequential I/O implies data is read or written in a continuous, ordered manner, allowing large blocks of data to be transferred in a single operation. The key concern here is how much data can move through the system in a given timeframe, making throughput the central metric.

Throughput differs fundamentally from IOPS, which measures the number of discrete read/write operations the system can handle each second. IOPS is critical for workloads involving numerous small, random I/O requests, like online transaction processing (OLTP) databases, where speed in handling many small operations matters. However, for sequential workloads, throughput governs performance because it reflects the system's ability to sustain high-volume data transfers.

While block size affects efficiency—larger blocks tend to optimize sequential transfers—it is more of a tuning factor rather than a primary metric. Likewise, the number of concurrent connections relates to scalability and multi-user access but doesn't directly impact the speed of large sequential transfers. A system with many connections but limited throughput will still bottleneck.

Consider a video editing application processing large media files: its speed hinges on how quickly those files can be read and written sequentially. Prioritizing throughput ensures that such applications experience fewer delays and quicker completion times, improving overall efficiency.

In summary, for sequential I/O-heavy workloads, prioritizing throughput when evaluating file share performance ensures the storage solution meets the demands of large, continuous data streams.

Question 8:

Before upgrading the Object Manager component in a system, which step must an administrator perform first to ensure the upgrade proceeds without issues?

A. Upgrade Objects service
B. Upgrade Application Object Server (AOS)
C. Upgrade Managed Service Provider (MSP)
D. Upgrade Lifecycle Manager

Answer: B

Explanation:

Upgrading the Object Manager involves several interdependent components, and understanding the correct sequence is essential for a successful upgrade. Among these, the Application Object Server (AOS) must be upgraded first because it acts as the backbone facilitating communication between clients, servers, and the business logic layer in systems like Microsoft Dynamics AX or other ERP platforms.

AOS processes core business logic, handles database interactions, and manages client requests. If it is not updated before the Object Manager upgrade, compatibility issues can arise, potentially causing system downtime, errors, or functional failures. Therefore, upgrading AOS ensures that the underlying infrastructure is ready to support the new Object Manager version.

While the Objects service manages object storage operations like creation and modification, it depends on AOS to operate correctly. Hence, upgrading the Objects service before AOS would be premature and risky.

The Managed Service Provider (MSP) is usually responsible for managing related system services but is not directly tied to the Object Manager upgrade. It is important to verify MSP compatibility after upgrading AOS but it is not the first step.

Similarly, the Lifecycle Manager oversees object lifecycle activities such as version control and modifications. Though important, its upgrade typically follows after AOS has been successfully updated and the system is stable.

In conclusion, upgrading AOS first is critical. It ensures that the core application services are aligned with the Object Manager upgrade. Only after this foundational step should the administrator proceed with upgrading other dependent services. Following this sequence reduces risks of incompatibility and maintains system stability throughout the upgrade process.

Question 9:

When configuring Nutanix Cluster Networking in an environment using VLAN segmentation, which key configuration must be set correctly to ensure that Nutanix nodes can communicate across different VLANs without issues?

A. Enable multicast routing on the cluster switches
B. Configure the correct VLAN IDs on both the Nutanix switch ports and ESXi VMkernel adapters
C. Assign static IP addresses to all Nutanix nodes regardless of VLANs
D. Disable the default gateway on Nutanix nodes to prevent routing conflicts

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Nutanix clusters rely heavily on proper networking configurations to ensure optimal communication among cluster nodes and with external systems. When VLANs are used to segment network traffic—for example, separating management, storage, and VM traffic—it is critical that VLAN IDs are consistently and correctly configured at every network layer involved.

First, the physical switch ports connecting Nutanix nodes must be assigned the appropriate VLAN IDs. These ports are typically configured as trunk or access ports depending on the design, but the VLAN tag must align with the network segments used by Nutanix traffic.

Second, the hypervisor VMkernel adapters (on ESXi or AHV) inside Nutanix nodes must also be configured to use the same VLAN IDs for their respective networks. VMkernel adapters handle management traffic, vMotion, and storage traffic, so VLAN tagging consistency is essential to ensure these packets reach the correct destinations without being dropped or misrouted.

Option A (enabling multicast routing) is generally not required in Nutanix clusters since Nutanix uses unicast protocols for cluster communications. Multicast routing can sometimes cause network complexity and issues if not properly handled.

Option C (assigning static IPs regardless of VLANs) ignores the fact that IP addressing must match the subnet associated with the VLAN; misalignment causes communication failures.

Option D (disabling default gateways) would break cross-subnet communication and prevent nodes from accessing external resources or routing traffic properly.

Therefore, option B is crucial to ensuring nodes communicate seamlessly across VLAN-segmented networks, maintaining cluster stability and performance. Proper VLAN configuration is a foundational skill for Nutanix administrators, especially for the NCP-US v6.5 exam.

Question 10:

What is the primary benefit of using Nutanix Prism Central in a multi-cluster environment, and how does it enhance operational efficiency?

A. It provides a single management interface for monitoring and managing multiple Nutanix clusters from one location
B. It replaces the need for cluster-level access by eliminating local Prism UI entirely
C. It automatically upgrades all clusters to the latest Nutanix software without administrator intervention
D. It functions as a backup appliance to restore data in case of disaster

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Nutanix Prism Central is a centralized management platform designed to provide administrators with unified visibility and control over multiple Nutanix clusters spread across different locations or data centers. This centralized approach offers several operational benefits.

The foremost advantage of Prism Central is its ability to aggregate monitoring data from multiple clusters into a single, intuitive dashboard. Instead of logging into individual Prism UIs for each cluster, administrators can see health status, performance metrics, capacity usage, and alerts across all clusters in one place. This consolidation significantly reduces the time and effort needed to maintain multiple environments.

Additionally, Prism Central enables centralized management tasks such as VM provisioning, resource optimization, and policy-based automation across clusters. This facilitates consistent policy enforcement and simplifies day-to-day operations, helping teams avoid configuration drift and improve compliance.

Option B is incorrect because Prism Central complements, rather than replaces, local Prism UIs. Cluster-level Prism remains essential for node-level troubleshooting and direct management.

Option C is inaccurate as automatic upgrades still require planning and administrator approval to ensure compatibility and minimal downtime.

Option D misrepresents Prism Central’s role—it is not a backup or disaster recovery appliance, although it can integrate with such tools.

Overall, Prism Central enhances operational efficiency by simplifying multi-cluster administration, providing holistic visibility, and enabling automation and consistent management. Understanding Prism Central’s role is essential for the NCP-US v6.5 exam, as managing multi-cluster environments is a common use case in enterprise Nutanix deployments.