NCP-US-6.5 Exam Dumps - Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) Questions and Answers

Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), can be installed or upgraded using Life Cycle Manager (LCM), a tool in Prism Central or Prism Element for managing software updates. Before installing or upgrading Files, LCM must ensure that the underlying components are compatible to avoid issues during the process.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Nutanix Cluster Check): Correct. Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) is a health and compatibility checking tool integrated with LCM. LCM requires a compatible version of NCC to perform pre-upgrade checks and validate the cluster’s readiness for a Files installation or upgrade. NCC ensures that the cluster environment (e.g., hardware, firmware, software) is compatible with the Files version being installed or upgraded.

Option B (Active Directory Services): Incorrect. Active Directory (AD) Services are used by Nutanix Files for user authentication (e.g., for SMB shares or multiprotocol access, as in Question 60), but AD is not a component managed by LCM, nor is it a prerequisite for LCM compatibility. AD configuration is a separate requirement for Files functionality, not LCM operations.

Option C (File Server Module): Incorrect. There is no “File Server Module” component in Nutanix terminology. Nutanix Files itself consists of File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs), but this is the component being upgraded, not a prerequisite for LCM. LCM manages the Files upgrade directly and does not require a separate “module” compatibility.

Option D (Acropolis Operating System): Correct. The Acropolis Operating System (AOS) is the core operating system of the Nutanix cluster, managing storage, compute, and virtualization. LCM requires a compatible AOS version to install or upgrade Files, as Files relies on AOS features (e.g., storage, networking) and APIs. LCM checks the AOS version to ensure it meets the minimum requirements for the target Files version.

Selected Components:

A: NCC ensures cluster compatibility and readiness, which LCM relies on for Files installation or upgrades.

D: AOS provides the underlying platform for Files, and LCM must ensure its version is compatible with the Files version being deployed.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

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

“Before installing or upgrading Nutanix Files using Life Cycle Manager (LCM), ensure that LCM has compatible versions of Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) and Acropolis Operating System (AOS). NCC performs pre-upgrade checks to validate cluster readiness, while AOS must meet the minimum version requirements for the target Files version.”

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 versioning, which is a feature that allows multiple versions of an object to be preserved in the same bucket. Versioning can be useful for developers who need to upload their code for testing API calls and retain older iterations as newer code is developed and tested. Versioning can also provide protection against accidental deletion or overwrite of objects. References: Nutanix Objects Administration Guide

The development team needs a solution to upload code via API calls while retaining older versions of the code as newer versions are developed. This use case aligns with versioned object storage, which supports API-based uploads (e.g., S3 APIs) and automatic versioning.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Create a bucket in Objects with Versioning enabled): Correct. Nutanix Objects, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), provides S3-compatible object storage. It supports versioning, which allows multiple versions of an object to be retained when new versions are uploaded. The S3 API is ideal for programmatic uploads via API calls, meeting the developers’ requirement to upload code for testing while retaining older iterations.

Option B (Create an SMB Share with Files and enable Previous Versions): Incorrect. Nutanix Files supports SMB shares with the Previous Versions feature (via Self-Service Restore), which allows users to access earlier versions of files. However, SMB is not typically accessed via API calls—it’s designed for file sharing over a network (e.g., Windows clients). This does not align with the requirement for API-based uploads.

Option C (Provision a Volume Group and connect via iSCSI with MPIO): Incorrect. Nutanix Volumes provides block storage via iSCSI, which is suitable for applications requiring low-level storage access (e.g., databases). However, iSCSI does not support API-based uploads or versioning, making it unsuitable for the developers’ needs.

Option D (Create an NFS Share mounted on a Linux Server with Files): Incorrect. An NFS share in Nutanix Files allows file access over the NFS protocol, which can be mounted on a Linux server. While NFS supports file storage, it does not natively provide versioning, and NFS is not typically accessed via API calls for programmatic uploads.

Why Option A is the Best Solution:

Nutanix Objects with Versioning: Objects supports S3 APIs, which are widely used for programmatic uploads in development workflows. Enabling versioning ensures that older versions of the code are retained automatically when new versions are uploaded, meeting the requirement to retain older iterations.

API Support: The S3 API is a standard for API-based uploads, making it ideal for the developers’ workflow.

Scalability: Objects is designed for scalable object storage, suitable for development and testing environments.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

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

“Nutanix Objects supports versioning for buckets, allowing multiple versions of an object to be retained. When versioning is enabled, uploading a new version of an object preserves the previous versions, which can be accessed or restored via S3 API calls. This feature is ideal for development workflows where older iterations of files need to be retained.”

Smart DR in Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), automates disaster recovery (DR) by replicating shares between primary and recovery file servers (e.g., using NearSync, as in Question 24). The administrator is using Smart DR to protect a Files share and needs seamless client redirection in the event of a failure, meaning clients should automatically connect to the recovery site without manual intervention.

Understanding the Requirement:

Smart DR Protection: Smart DR replicates the Files share from the primary site to the recovery site, typically with the primary site in read-write (RW) mode and the recovery site in read-only (RO) mode (as seen in the exhibit for Question 24).

Seamless Client Redirection: In a failure scenario (e.g., primary site down), clients should automatically redirect to the recovery site without needing to reconfigure their connections (e.g., changing the share path or IP address).

Files Share Context: Clients typically access Files shares via SMB or NFS, using a hostname or IP address (e.g., \fileserver\share for SMB or fileserver:/share for NFS).

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Create a reverse replication policy): Incorrect. A reverse replication policy would replicate data from the recovery site back to the primary site, typically used after failover to prepare for failback. This does not address seamless client redirection during a failure—it focuses on data replication direction, not client connectivity.

Option B (Enable redirection in the protection policy): Incorrect. Smart DR protection policies define replication settings (e.g., RPO, schedule), but there is no “redirection” setting in the policy itself. Client redirection in Nutanix Files DR scenarios is managed through external mechanisms like DNS, not within the protection policy.

Option C (Update the AD and DNS entries): Correct. Seamless client redirection in Nutanix Files DR scenarios requires that clients can automatically connect to the recovery site without changing their share paths. This is achieved by updating Active Directory (AD) and DNS entries:

DNS Update: The hostname of the file server (e.g., fileserver.company.com) should resolve to the IP address of the primary site’s File Server under normal conditions. During a failure, DNS is updated to point to the recovery site’s File Server IP address (e.g., the Client network IP of the recovery FSVMs). This ensures clients automatically connect to the recovery site without changing the share path (e.g., \fileserver.company.com\share continues to work).

AD Update: For SMB shares, the Service Principal Name (SPN) in AD must be updated to reflect the recovery site’s File Server, ensuring Kerberos authentication works seamlessly after failover.This approach ensures clients are redirected without manual intervention, meeting the “seamless” requirement.

Option D (Activate protected shares on the recovery site): Incorrect. Activating protected shares on the recovery site (e.g., making them RW during failover) is a necessary step for failover, but it does not ensure seamless client redirection. Without updating DNS/AD, clients will not know to connect to the recovery site—they will continue trying to access the primary site’s IP address, requiring manual reconfiguration (e.g., changing the share path), which is not seamless.

Why Option C?

Seamless client redirection in a Nutanix Files DR scenario requires that clients can connect to the recovery site without changing their share paths. Updating AD and DNS entries ensures that the file server’s hostname resolves to the recovery site’s IP address after failover, and AD authentication (e.g., Kerberos for SMB) continues to work. This allows clients to automatically redirect to the recovery site without manual intervention, fulfilling the requirement for seamlessness.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

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

“To ensure seamless client redirection during a Smart DR failover, update Active Directory (AD) and DNS entries. Configure DNS to resolve the file server’s hostname to the recovery site’s File Server IP address after failover, and update the Service Principal Name (SPN) in AD to ensure Kerberos authentication works for SMB clients. This allows clients to automatically connect to the recovery site without manual reconfiguration.”

The two minimum resources that are required for deploying Files instances are 8 GiB of memory per host and 4 vCPUs per host. Memory and vCPUs are resources that are allocated to VMs (Virtual Machines) to run applications and processes. Files instances are file server instances (FSIs) that run on FSVMs (File Server VMs) on a Nutanix cluster. FSVMs require at least 8 GiB of memory and 4 vCPUs per host to function properly and provide SMB and NFS access to file shares and exports. The administrator should ensure that there are enough memory and vCPUs available on each host before deploying Files instances. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 27; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 6

The primary criteria that should be considered for performance-sensitive application shares with sequential I/O is throughput. Throughput is a measure of how much data can be transferred or processed in a given time period. Throughput is usually expressed in megabytes per second (MB/s) or gigabytes per second (GB/s). Sequential I/O is a type of I/O pattern where data is read or written in a sequential order, such as streaming media, backup, or archive applications. Sequential I/O typically requires high throughput to transfer large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 25; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 10

Sequential I/O workloads are characterized by large, continuous data transfers, making throughput (data transfer rate) the primary performance criterion. For performance-sensitive application shares in Nutanix Files, ensuring high throughput (e.g., by optimizing network bandwidth, FSVM resources, or storage performance) is critical to meet the application’s requirements, such as fast streaming or efficient file transfers.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

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

“For performance-sensitive application shares with sequential I/O, the primary criterion to consider is throughput (MB/s or GB/s). Sequential I/O workloads, such as media streaming or large file transfers, prioritize the rate of data transfer. Optimize throughput by ensuring sufficient network bandwidth, FSVM resources, and storage performance.”

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.”

The administrator can monitor their Files environment for suspicious activities, such as mass deletion or access denials, by deploying the File Analytics VM and configuring anomaly rules. File Analytics is a feature that provides insights into the usage and activity of file data stored on Files. File Analytics consists of a File Analytics VM (FAVM) that runs on a Nutanix cluster and communicates with the File Server VMs (FSVMs) that host the file shares. File Analytics can alert the administrator when there is an unusual or suspicious activity on file data, such as mass deletion, encryption, permission change, or access denial. The administrator can configure anomaly rules to define the threshold, time window, and notification settings for each type of anomaly. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 93; Nutanix File Analytics User Guide

Nutanix 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 secure volume groups from unauthorized access, Nutanix recommends configuring CHAP (Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol) for each volume group in Prism Element. CHAP is a security feature that authenticates iSCSI initiators and targets before allowing access to a volume group. CHAP requires both the initiator and the target to have a shared secret (a password) that is used to generate a challenge and a response during the authentication process. CHAP can prevent unauthorized access to volume groups and protect data from malicious attacks. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide, page 25; Nutanix Volumes Security Guide

Nutanix’s best practices for Volumes security emphasize securing iSCSI connections through authentication. Configuring Volume Groups to use CHAP ensures that only authorized initiators can access the storage, preventing unauthorized access and aligning with security compliance requirements. This is a direct and mandatory step for securing Volumes, making it the best choice among the options.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

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

“To align with Nutanix best practices for security, configure Volume Groups to use CHAP (Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol) for iSCSI authentication. This ensures that only authorized initiators can access the Volume Group, protecting against unauthorized access and enhancing security.”

Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), provides CIFS (SMB) shares that can be accessed by Windows clients. RoboCopy (Robust File Copy) is a Windows command-line tool commonly used to copy files to SMB shares, such as those provided by Nutanix Files. The administrator is copying large files to a Files share using RoboCopy, but the operation was interrupted due to a network bandwidth issue. The goal is to resume the interrupted copy operation without restarting from scratch.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (robocopy with the /c option): Incorrect. The /c option is not a valid RoboCopy option. RoboCopy options typically start with a forward slash (e.g., /z, /s), and there is no /c option for resuming interrupted copies.

Option B (robocopy with the /s option): Incorrect. The /s option in RoboCopy copies subdirectories (excluding empty ones) but does not provide functionality to resume interrupted copy operations. It is used to define the scope of the copy, not to handle interruptions.

Option C (robocopy with the /z option): Correct. The /z option in RoboCopy enables “restartable mode,” which allows the tool to resume a copy operation from where it left off if it is interrupted (e.g., due to a network issue). This mode is specifically designed for copying large files over unreliable networks, as it checkpoints the progress and can pick up where it stopped, ensuring the copy operation completes without restarting from the beginning.

Option D (robocopy with the /r option): Incorrect. The /r option in RoboCopy specifies the number of retries for failed copies (e.g., /r:3 retries 3 times). While this can help with transient errors, it does not resume an interrupted copy operation from the point of interruption—it retries the entire file copy, which is inefficient for large files.

Why Option C?

The /z option in RoboCopy enables restartable mode, which is ideal for copying large files to a Nutanix Files share over a network that may experience interruptions. This option ensures that if the copy operation is interrupted (e.g., due to a network bandwidth issue), RoboCopy can resume from the point of interruption, minimizing data retransmission and ensuring efficient completion of the copy.

Exact Extract from Microsoft Documentation (RoboCopy):

From the Microsoft RoboCopy Documentation (available on Microsoft Docs):

“/z : Copies files in restartable mode. In restartable mode, if a file copy is interrupted, RoboCopy can resume the copy operation from where it left off, which is particularly useful for large files or unreliable networks.”

Additional Notes:

Since RoboCopy is a Microsoft tool interacting with Nutanix Files SMB shares, the behavior of RoboCopy options is standard and not specific to Nutanix. However, Nutanix documentation recommends using tools like RoboCopy with appropriate options (e.g., /z) for reliable data migration to Files shares.

Nutanix Files supports SMB features like Durable File Handles (as noted in Question 19), which complement tools like RoboCopy by maintaining session state during brief network interruptions, but the /z option directly addresses resuming the copy operation itself.