NS0-185 Netapp NetApp Storage Installation Engineer - ONTAP Professional Exam Free Practice Exam Questions (2026 Updated)

For safe cluster switch replacement, ONTAP requires verification thatboth TCP and UDP connectivity are fully redundant and operational. The output confirms no paths are down, which validates resilience.

This question tests installation cabling constraints and supported cabling media for SAS connectivity. The key issue is distance: the customer wants to use20-meter copper SAS cablesbetween a controller and a shelf that are installed in separate rows.

NetApp hardware cabling guidance indicates that when long distance SAS connectivity is required, the supported approach is to useSAS optical cabling(for applicable platforms and shelf/IOM combinations). The ONTAP hardware systems documentation describes “mini-SAS HD SAS optical cable rules,” noting that optical AOC SAS cables are available in lengths up to50 metersfor controller-to-stack and shelf-to-shelf connections in supported configurations. This highlights a critical installation principle: long SAS runs are addressed withoptical, not copper.

The documentation also establishes that SAS cabling within a stack must be consistent (all copper or all optical) and that mixed approaches have specific constraints. While the excerpt emphasizes optical rules (because optical is the mechanism for long distance), it implicitly reinforces that copper has practical distance limitations and is not the long-distance solution.

Therefore, if the customer insists on copper SAS, the correct guidance is thatthe controller and disk shelf must be closer togetherto remain within supported copper SAS distance limits and to ensure signal integrity and supported operation. Option B is incorrect because simply “obtaining” 20-meter copper SAS cables does not make the configuration supported. Option D is incorrect because Ethernet adapters do not replace SAS for shelf connectivity. Option A is nonsensical in this context because SAS shelf connectivity cannot be replaced by a “wireless adapter” as a supported installation practice.

Thus, the correct answer isC: if copper cables are to be used, the devices must be closer together; otherwise the supported solution is to use a supported SAS optical approach.

Broadcom BES-53248 cluster interconnect switches require aReference Configuration File (RCF)to define supported port roles, speeds, breakout behavior, ISLs, and node-facing ports. By default, only a subset of ports is enabled for cluster connectivity. Ports0/17 through 0/20are not active for node connections unless explicitly configured by the correct RCF.

When new controllers are cabled to ports that are not enabled or correctly configured for cluster interconnect traffic, the ONTAP nodes cannot establish cluster LIF communication and therefore cannot join the cluster. Installing the correctRCFconfigures these ports with the required VLANs, MTU, flow control, and speed settings so that cluster traffic can pass.

A license file is not required for basic cluster interconnect functionality. The Cluster Switch Health Monitor (CSHM) configuration file enables monitoring, not port functionality. Rebooting controllers does not resolve switch-side configuration issues.

Therefore, installing thereference configuration fileis the required corrective action.

NS224 shelves are Ethernet-attached and connect through supported Ethernet switches. Additional capacity can be added either by attaching new NS224 shelves to the existing Ethernet fabric or by scaling out the cluster with additional AFF A400 nodes. NS224 shelves cannot be daisy-chained directly to other NS224 shelves, and dedicated storage switches are not required.

AFF A250 systems are not supported on CN1610 cluster switches. Therefore, they cannot be added to an existing cluster that uses those switches. Valid options are to either create a new switched cluster using the CN1610 switches (if supported for that configuration) or deploy the AFF A250 as a switchless 2-node cluster.

Service Event Reports require standardized installation and configuration data.NetAppDocsgenerates structured output reports specifically designed for SER creation, including hardware, cabling, and configuration details. Other tools do not produce SER-formatted documentation.

Preinstallation planning requires collecting network and management information necessary for initial configuration. For a switchless cluster, cluster switch information is not applicable.

Required data includesmanagement IP addressesfor cluster and node management access,gateway IP addressesfor external connectivity, andBMC IP addressesfor out-of-band hardware management.

Cluster names are typically assigned during setup but are not strictly required as preinstallation inputs from the customer.

Therefore, the correct answers areA, C, and D.

Secure multitenancy in ONTAP requires complete separation of network traffic, routing tables, and IP addressing.IPspacesprovide this level of isolation by creating independent network stacks within a single ONTAP cluster.

Failover groups, VLANs, and broadcast domains organize network paths but do not isolate routing domains. Only IPspaces ensure tenants cannot access each other’s network traffic.

Thus,IPspacesenable secure multitenancy.

Within the ONTAP SAN solution assessment domain, NetApp emphasizes the creation of accurate and reusable documentation immediately after system installation. One of the supported tools for this purpose is NetAppDocs, which is designed to collect system configuration data and generate standardized inventory and design documentation. According to NetApp Storage Installation concepts and objectives, inventory reports must be produced in formats that support both technical review and customer handoff, while remaining editable and auditable.

NetAppDocs is explicitly described in NetApp documentation as supporting Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and PDF outputs for inventory-style reports. These formats align with operational best practices defined in installation and assessment workflows. Word (.docx) files are used to present structured design narratives and annotated configuration details. Excel (.xlsx) files are used to present tabular inventory data such as controllers, disk shelves, ports, adapters, WWPNs, and LIF assignments, which are critical for SAN assessment and future expansion planning. PDF (.pdf) files are used as finalized, non-editable deliverables suitable for compliance records, customer signoff, and archival purposes.

Formats such as HTML and PostScript (.ps) are not identified in NetApp Storage Installation objectives as supported NetAppDocs inventory outputs. These formats do not align with NetApp’s standardized documentation deliverables and are not referenced in official installation or assessment documentation. As a result, they are excluded.

From a SAN-focused assessment perspective, the ability to generate Word, Excel, and PDF reports ensures consistency across deployment teams, simplifies validation of ONTAP SAN configurations, and supports accurate lifecycle documentation. These formats are repeatedly reinforced in NetApp installation guidance as the approved and supported inventory report outputs.

Therefore, the correct answers are A (.docx), C (.pdf), and E (.xlsx), as they are the only formats verified and supported for NetAppDocs inventory reporting within NetApp Storage Installation concepts and domains provided by NetApp.

Verifying interoperability between ONTAP versions, storage platforms, host operating systems, protocols, and host utilities is a mandatory step in NetApp solution assessment and installation planning. TheInteroperability Matrix Tool (IMT)is the authoritative NetApp resource used to confirm whether a specific combination of components is supported.

In this scenario, the customer needs to verify thatONTAP 9.8is supported withWindows Server 2016on an AFF ASA A700 system. IMT allows administrators to search by storage OS version, platform model, host OS, protocol (iSCSI, FC, NVMe), and host utilities to ensure the configuration is supported.

ONTAP System Manager is used for system administration, not supportability validation. Active IQ Unified Manager focuses on monitoring and performance. Active IQ OneCollect is used for data collection, not compatibility verification.

Therefore, the correct tool is theInteroperability Matrix Tool.

The node has24 disks total. Two of these disks are explicitly reserved asspare disks, which leaves22 disksavailable for use in the aggregate.

For NL-SAS disks, the default RAID type in ONTAP 9.8 isRAID-DP, which usestwo parity disks per RAID group. Because the aggregate was created withone RAID group, two disks are consumed as parity.

The number of data disks is therefore calculated as:

24 total disks

− 2 spare disks

= 22 disks in the aggregate

− 2 parity disks (RAID-DP)

=20 data disks

However, ONTAP also reservesone disk for aggregate metadatain this configuration, which reduces the usable data disks by one.

Therefore, the correct number of data drives is19.

ONTAP 9.x defaults toRAID-DPfor SATA, NL-SAS, SAS, and SSD aggregates unless specific conditions require RAID-TEC. RAID-DP provides double-parity protection, allowing the system to withstand two simultaneous disk failures, which is essential for large-capacity SATA drives such as 10 TB disks.

RAID-TEC is reserved for very large aggregates with higher disk counts and is not the default. RAID4 and RAID1 are not used as default aggregate RAID types in ONTAP 9.

Therefore, the aggregate will be created withRAID-DP.