NCP-US-6.5 Exam Dumps - Nutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US) v6.5

Nutanix Volumes allows physical servers to boot from a volume group that is exposed as an iSCSI target from the data services IP. To ensure high availability and load balancing, multipath I/O (MPIO) is required on the physical server. Object buckets cannot be used for booting physical servers1. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide1

The organization is deploying a Nutanix cluster to provide block storage (via iSCSI), CIFS shares, and NFS exports (via Nutanix Files). Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), uses File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs) to serve CIFS (SMB) and NFS shares to end users. The security policy requires separate networks:

Management traffic on VLAN 500 (10.10.50.0/24).

iSCSI traffic on VLAN 510 (10.10.51.0/24).

Files traffic on VLAN 520 (10.10.52.0/24).

To ensure CIFS and NFS traffic uses VLAN 520 and is accessible by end users, the cluster must be configured to route Files traffic over the correct network.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Create a new subnet in Network Configuration, assign it VLAN 520, and configure the Files client network on it): Correct. Nutanix Files requires two networks: a Client network (for CIFS/NFS traffic to end users) and a Storage network (for internal communication with the cluster’s storage pool). To isolate Files traffic on VLAN 520, the administrator should create a new subnet in the cluster’s Network Configuration (via Prism Element), assign it to VLAN 520, and then configure the Files instance to use this subnet as its Client network. This ensures that CIFS and NFS traffic is routed over VLAN 520, making the shares accessible to end users on that network.

Option B (Configure the Data Services IP in Prism Element with an IP on VLAN 520): Incorrect. The Data Services IP is used for iSCSI traffic (as seen in Question 25, where it was configured for VLAN 510). It is not used for CIFS or NFS traffic, which is handled by Nutanix Files. Configuring the Data Services IP on VLAN 520 would incorrectly route iSCSI traffic, not Files traffic.

Option C (Create a new virtual switch in Network Configuration, assign it VLAN 520, and configure the Files client network on it): Incorrect. A virtual switch is used for VM networking (e.g., for AHV VMs), but Nutanix Files traffic is handled by FSVMs, which use the cluster’s network configuration for external communication. While FSVMs are VMs, their network configuration is managed at the Files instance level by specifying the Client network, not by creating a new virtual switch. The correct approach is to configure the subnet for the Files Client network, as in option A.

Option D (Configure the Data Services IP in Prism Central with an IP on VLAN 520): Incorrect. As with option B, the Data Services IP is for iSCSI traffic, not CIFS/NFS traffic. Additionally, the Data Services IP is configured in Prism Element, not Prism Central, making this option doubly incorrect.

Why Option A?

Nutanix Files requires a Client network for CIFS and NFS traffic. By creating a new subnet in the cluster’s Network Configuration, assigning it to VLAN 520, and configuring the Files instance to use this subnet as its Client network, the administrator ensures that all CIFS and NFS traffic is routed over VLAN 520, meeting the security policy and ensuring accessibility for end users.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Files Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“Nutanix Files requires a Client network for CIFS and NFS traffic to end users. To isolate Files traffic on a specific network, create a subnet in the cluster’s Network Configuration in Prism Element, assign it the appropriate VLAN (e.g., VLAN 520), and configure the Files instance to use this subnet as its Client network. This ensures that all client traffic (SMB/NFS) is routed over the specified network.”

The service that the administrator should investigate for this issue is Minerva-nvm. Minerva-nvm is a service that runs on each CVM and provides communication between Prism Central and Files services. Minerva-nvm also monitors the health of Files services and reports any failures or alerts to Prism Central. If Minerva-nvm is down on any CVM, it can affect the availability and functionality of Files services on that cluster. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 23; Nutanix Files Troubleshooting Guide

The minerva_nvm service is the core service on FSVMs that manages Nutanix Files operations. If File server services are down, this service is the most likely culprit, as it handles all file system activities (e.g., share access, data I/O). Investigating minerva_nvm (e.g., checking its status, logs, or restarting it) is the first step to diagnose and resolve the issue.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Files Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“The minerva_nvm service is a critical component of Nutanix Files, running on each FSVM. It manages file system operations, including share access and data management. If File server services are down on a cluster, investigate the minerva_nvm service on the FSVMs, as its failure will cause shares to become inaccessible.”

A distributed share is a type of SMB share or NFS export that distributes the hosting of top-level directories across multiple FSVMs, which improves load balancing and performance. A distributed share cannot be created on a single-node cluster, because there is only one FSVM available. A distributed share requires at least two nodes in the cluster to distribute the directories. Therefore, the task of creating a distributed share on a single-node cluster will fail. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 33; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 8

A distributed share in Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), is a share that spans multiple File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs) to provide scalability and high availability. Distributed shares are designed to handle large-scale workloads by distributing file operations across FSVMs.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (File server version should be greater than 3.8.0): Incorrect. While Nutanix Files has version-specific features, distributed shares have been supported since earlier versions (e.g., Files 3.5). The failure to create a distributed share on a single-node cluster is not due to the Files version.

Option B (Distributed shares require multiple nodes): Correct. Distributed shares in Nutanix Files require a minimum of three FSVMs for high availability and load balancing, which in turn requires a cluster with at least three nodes. A single-node cluster cannot support a distributed share because it lacks the necessary nodes to host multiple FSVMs, which are required for the distributed architecture.

Option C (AOS version should be greater than 6.0): Incorrect. Nutanix AOS (Acropolis Operating System) version 6.0 or later is not a specific requirement for distributed shares. Distributed shares have been supported in earlier AOS versions (e.g., AOS 5.15 and later with compatible Files versions). The issue is related to the cluster’s node count, not the AOS version.

Option D (Number of distributed shares limit reached): Incorrect. The question does not indicate that the administrator has reached a limit on the number of distributed shares. The failure is due to the single-node cluster limitation, not a share count limit.

Why Option B?

A single-node cluster cannot support a distributed share because Nutanix Files requires at least three FSVMs for a distributed share, and each FSVM typically runs on a separate node for high availability. A single-node cluster can support a non-distributed (standard) share, but not a distributed share, which is designed for scalability across multiple nodes.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Files Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“Distributed shares in Nutanix Files require a minimum of three FSVMs to ensure scalability and high availability. This requires a cluster with at least three nodes, as each FSVM is typically hosted on a separate node. Single-node clusters do not support distributed shares due to this requirement.”

Nutanix File Analytics, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), provides audit trails to track user activities within Nutanix Files shares. Audit trails include details such as who accessed a file, from where, and what actions were performed. The administrator needs to view the audit trails for 100 users, which requires filtering or grouping the audit data by relevant criteria.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Share Name): Correct. Audit trails in File Analytics can be filtered by Share Name, allowing the administrator to view activities specific to a particular share. Since the 100 users are connected to multiple shares, filtering by Share Name helps narrow down the audit trails to the shares being accessed by these users, making it easier to analyze their activities.

Option B (Client IP): Correct. File Analytics audit trails include the Client IP address from which a user accesses a share (as noted in Question 14). Filtering by Client IP allows the administrator to track the activities of users based on their IP addresses, which can be useful if the 100 users are accessing shares from known IPs, helping to identify their read/write activities.

Option C (Directory): Incorrect. While audit trails track file and directory-level operations, “Directory” is not a standard filter option in File Analytics audit trails. The audit trails can show activities within directories, but the primary filtering options are more granular (e.g., by file) or higher-level (e.g., by share).

Option D (Folders): Incorrect. Similar to “Directory,” “Folders” is not a standard filter option in File Analytics audit trails. While folder-level activities are logged, the audit trails are typically filtered by Share Name, Client IP, or specific files, not by a generic “Folders” category.

Selected Options:

A: Filtering by Share Name allows the administrator to focus on the specific shares accessed by the 100 users.

B: Filtering by Client IP enables tracking user activities based on their IP addresses, which is useful for identifying the 100 users’ actions across multiple shares.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix File Analytics Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“File Analytics Audit Trails allow administrators to filter user activities by various criteria, including Share Name and Client IP. Filtering by Share Name enables viewing activities on a specific share, while filtering by Client IP helps track user actions based on their source IP address.”

Nutanix Objects supports directory services integration, which allows administrators to configure access keys based on directory and email-based users. This enables granular access control and security for buckets and objects. The administrator can configure directory services under the Access Keys section in Prism Central, and then generate access keys for internal users from the directory service and for the consultant from an email address2. References: Nutanix Objects Administration Guide2

Volumes is a feature that allows users to create and manage block storage devices (volume groups) on a Nutanix cluster. Volume groups can be accessed by external hosts using the iSCSI protocol. To ensure maximum performance, throughput, and redundancy for Oracle RAC on Linux implementation, while using the native method for securing workloads, the recommended configuration is to use Volumes with MPIO (Multipath I/O) and a single vDisk (virtual disk). MPIO is a technique that allows multiple paths between an iSCSI initiator and an iSCSI target, which improves performance and availability. A single vDisk is a logical unit number (LUN) that can be assigned to multiple hosts in a volume group, which simplifies management and reduces overhead. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide, page 13; Nutanix Volumes Best Practices Guide

The scenario that is causing the alert and needs to be addressed to allow the entities to be protected is that one or more VMs or Volume Groups belonging to the Consistency Group may have been deleted. A Consistency Group is a logical grouping of VMs or Volume Groups that are protected together by a Protection Policy. A Protection Policy is a set of rules that defines how often snapshots are taken, how long they are retained, and where they are replicated for disaster recovery purposes. If one or more VMs or Volume Groups belonging to the Consistency Group are deleted, the Protection Policy will fail to protect them and generate an alert with the code AI303551 – VolumeGroupProtectionFailed. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide, page 29; Nutanix Volumes Troubleshooting Guide