NCP Nutanix Architecture and Concepts 3

Question 1

What is the minimum number of nodes required to form a Nutanix cluster with Replication Factor 2 (RF2)?

Accepted Answer

3

Answer

RF2 requires a minimum of 3 nodes to ensure that the cluster can survive a single node failure while maintaining a quorum for metadata.

Question 2

Which Nutanix service is responsible for providing the Prism Element and Prism Central web interfaces?

Accepted Answer

Prism

Answer

The Prism service runs on each CVM and provides the management web interface (Prism Element) and connects to Prism Central for multi-cluster management.

Question 3

What happens to the Controller VM (CVM) I/O path when a node fails in a Nutanix cluster?

Accepted Answer

Remote CVMs on surviving nodes take over I/O for the failed node's VMs via CVM autopathing

Answer

Nutanix's CVM autopathing automatically redirects I/O from the failed node's CVM to remote CVMs on healthy nodes, ensuring continuous operation.

Question 4

In Nutanix's storage architecture, what is the 'Extent Store'?

Accepted Answer

The persistent storage layer on HDDs or SSDs that stores vDisk data

Answer

The Extent Store is Nutanix's persistent storage tier where actual vDisk data is written after being processed through the write buffer and cache layers.

Question 5

What is the Nutanix 'Shadow Clone' feature used for?

Accepted Answer

Accelerating reads for frequently accessed vDisks by caching full copies on local SSDs

Answer

Shadow Clones cache a full local copy of a vDisk on the requesting node's SSD tier when a vDisk is read frequently from multiple nodes, improving read performance.

(NCP) Certified Nutanix Professional Practice Test

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NCP Nutanix Architecture and Concepts 3