NCP Cluster Deployment and Configuration 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Nutanix service is responsible for leader election and distributed coordination across the cluster?
- Stargate
- Medusa
- Zookeeper (Correct answer)
- Cassandra
Correct answer: Zookeeper
Zookeeper provides distributed coordination and leader election services for the Nutanix cluster's controller VMs.
Question 2: When deploying a Nutanix cluster with AHV, which configuration must be completed before VMs can be placed on the hypervisor?
- Enable vMotion on all nodes
- Configure at least one network and one storage container (Correct answer)
- Install VMware Tools on the CVM
- Enable DRS cluster settings
Correct answer: Configure at least one network and one storage container
At minimum, a network (for VM connectivity) and a storage container (for VM disk storage) must be configured before workloads can be deployed on AHV.
Question 3: What does the 'cluster_init_successful' indicator in the Foundation log confirm?
- All nodes passed hardware health checks
- The cluster has been created and CVMs are communicating (Correct answer)
- Hypervisor installation completed without errors
- Network configuration was applied successfully
Correct answer: The cluster has been created and CVMs are communicating
The 'cluster_init_successful' indicator confirms that the Nutanix cluster creation step finished and all CVMs can communicate with each other.
Question 4: An administrator needs to change the cluster name after initial deployment. Which tool is the recommended method?
- Edit /etc/nutanix/cluster.conf on the CVM
- Use Prism Element Settings > Cluster Details (Correct answer)
- Run 'ncli cluster edit-params' from any node
- Modify the cluster name via Foundation re-imaging
Correct answer: Use Prism Element Settings > Cluster Details
The cluster name can be changed via Prism Element under Settings > Cluster Details without any CLI or re-imaging required.
Question 5: Which network port must be open between Nutanix CVMs for inter-CVM communication in a standard deployment?
- 443
- 2100 (Correct answer)
- 9440
- 2030
Correct answer: 2100
Port 2100 is used for inter-CVM communication (Stargate data path), and must be open between all CVM IP addresses in the cluster.
Question 6: What is the purpose of the 'shadow clones' feature in Nutanix cluster deployment for VDI workloads?
- Provide VM-level snapshots for backup
- Deduplicate boot disk reads by caching popular data locally on each node (Correct answer)
- Mirror VM disks across multiple containers
- Replicate VMs to a remote cluster automatically
Correct answer: Deduplicate boot disk reads by caching popular data locally on each node
Shadow clones allow read-only data (like VDI boot disks) to be cached locally on each node, reducing cross-node read traffic and improving performance.
Question 7: During cluster deployment, what is the role of the 'Data Services IP' configured in Prism?
- Provides a floating IP for iSCSI/NFS external storage access (Correct answer)
- Serves as the Prism Element management VIP
- Acts as the default gateway for CVM traffic
- Enables remote replication over WAN links
Correct answer: Provides a floating IP for iSCSI/NFS external storage access
The Data Services IP is a virtual IP used for iSCSI and NFS data services, allowing external hosts to access Nutanix storage through a single stable endpoint.
NCP Cluster Deployment and Configuration 3
Which Nutanix service is responsible for leader election and distributed coordination across the cluster?