NCS-Core Nutanix Certified Services Core Infrastructure Professional (NCS-Core 6.8) Free Practice Exam Questions (2025 Updated)

Ref: https://next.nutanix.com/server-virtualization-27/iops-latency-issue-1 168

For licensing reasons and to ensure compliance with software license terms, particularly for databases like SQL and Oracle RAC, VM-Host affinity policies are used. These policies help in pinning VMs to specific hosts. In this scenario, SQL Servers must be confined to specific hosts to manage licensing costs effectively, and similarly, Oracle RAC servers must be on separate hosts. The VM-Host affinity policy allows for such configuration by defining rules that keep VMs on specific hosts or separate them as needed.References:

Nutanix Bible

Nutanix University NCS-Core Materials

After an onsite cluster deployment, the As-Built Guide is a crucial document that provides detailed information about the final configuration of the system. However, certain data in the As-Built Guide might require adjustment or might be missing completely.

In this case, the Nutanix Node Port Layout (Option A) and the Physical Rack Layout (Option C) are two data that might require adjustment or might be missing completely. The Nutanix Node Port Layout provides a visual representation of the network connections for each node in the cluster, while the Physical Rack Layout provides a visual representation of the physical arrangement of the nodes in the rack. Both of these data are crucial for understanding the physical and network configuration of the cluster, and any inaccuracies or omissions in these data could lead to confusion or issues in the future.

Therefore, the consultant should ensure that the Nutanix Node Port Layout and the Physical Rack Layout in the As-Built Guide are accurate and complete.

References:

[Nutanix Support & Insights]

[Nutanix Community]

[Nutanix Documentation]

[Nutanix Certified services - core (NCS-Core) 6.8 - Nutanix University]

[Nutanix Bible]

[Nutanix Certified services - core (NCS-Core) 6.8 Playlist - YouTube]

To deploy the Foundation VM on VMware ESXi or AHV Hypervisors, the two necessary files are:

foundation_VM-version.tar which contains the complete Foundation VM package.

foundation_VM-version.vmdk, which is the virtual disk file for VMware environments.

These files are required to create and boot the Foundation VM in these hypervisor environments, facilitating the deployment and configuration of the Nutanix nodes within the cluster.References: Nutanix Bible, Nutanix University NCS-Core 6.8 learning materials

Given that the customer is using a Cisco Nexus 9k switch and wants to deploy ESXi with a vSphere Distributed Switch while using LACP, the consultant should ensure that the customer configures:

D. no lacp suspend-individual: This command ensures that LACP doesn't suspend the individual port if it does not receive LACP PDUs from the other side, which is crucial in environments where continuous connectivity is required for all member links of the port-channel to maintain uninterrupted network services.

References:

Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanixbible.com ), where it discusses ESXi configurations and switch settings.

Cisco Nexus configuration guides, referred through Nutanix’s training materials, which recommend settings for optimal integration with Nutanix environments.

When encountering an error related to unsupported ISO media during the imaging process, and the ISO version is not listed in the whitelist file, the consultant should take several steps to resolve the issue. Replacing and saving the whitelist file in Foundation ensures that the latest compatibility data is used. Downloading the iso_whitelist.json from the Support portal provides the most recent and comprehensive list of supported ISO versions. Editing the whitelist file in Foundation allows the consultant to manually add or update entries to include the ISO in question, ensuring the imaging process can proceed.

References:

Nutanix Bible: Foundation Imaging and Compatibility

Nutanix University: Handling Foundation Errors

For troubleshooting issues with Foundation Portable on Mac not locating new nodes, the consultant should check the ~/data/logs/foundation.out log. This log file contains detailed operational entries that describe the activities of the Foundation tool, including any errors encountered during the node discovery process. This can provide insights into why the nodes are not being detected and guide the consultant on the necessary corrective actions.

References:

Nutanix Bible: Foundation Deployment and Troubleshooting

Nutanix University: Foundation Tool Usage

The most efficient and safest way to implement the customer's desire to reserve storage capacity for future node failures after expanding their existing 7-node RF2 cluster with four additional nodes is to first expand the cluster with the additional nodes, and then enable the Reserve Rebuild Capacity setting. This approach allows the cluster to immediately benefit from increased storage and other resources provided by the additional nodes, which can then be partially reserved to handle potential future failures. This method ensures both an increase in total capacity and the preservation of operational integrity during node failures.References: Nutanix Prism User Guide, Nutanix Best Practices for Cluster Expansion.

Ref: https://support-portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=Web-Console-Guide-Prism-v5_10:wc-prote ction-domain-wc-c.html

During the Knowledge Transfer phase, providing the customer with the As-Built Guide, technical slides and checklists, along with links to documentation and resources, is optimal. This set of materials ensures the customer receives both detailed and high-level information, supporting a thorough understanding of the deployment and operational procedures, and it allows for easy reference to official resources for ongoing needs.References: The Nutanix Bible, NCS-Core 6.8 learning documentation, and best practices in IT project documentation.

Ref:

In a Nutanix Files deployment within a 20-node AHV cluster, the consultant can deploy a maximum of 16 FSVMs (File Server Virtual Machines). This limitation is based on Nutanix's best practices and design considerations for scalability and performance. The number of FSVMs that can be effectively managed and maintained without degrading the performance of the file-serving operations or the underlying storage infrastructure dictates this maximum.

References:

Nutanix Certified Services - Core (NCS-Core) Learning Documents

Nutanix Bible: https://www.nutanixbible.com

Nutanix University Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAHgaS9IrJecs_AcQT3Y7vSsKT2mjz3Iu

Validating software compatibility for a Nutanix cluster installation necessitates the identification of the AOS version and the type of Hypervisor in use. AOS is central to the Nutanix infrastructure, governing storage, compute, and networking functions. The hypervisor layer is critical as it supports the virtual machines running on the cluster. Compatibility between these components ensures stable operation and support for all features. References: Nutanix Certified Services - Core (NCS-Core) Learning Documents

https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=Prism-Central-Guide-Prism-v510:mul-security-policy-management-pc-c.html

Ref:

Given the critical message about the NIC being disconnected or the switchport failing, the consultant should first verify the bonding mode of the NICs, especially since only two out of four 10GbE NICs are connected. In an AHV cluster, the NICs can be configured in different bonding modes such as active-active or active-backup. Ensuring that the NICs are configured for active-backup can provide redundancy by allowing one NIC to take over if the other fails, which seems to be necessary given the critical error indicating a possible disconnection or switchport failure. References: Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanixbible.com/ ), Nutanix University (https://university.nutanix.com/ )

In a Nutanix AHV cluster configuration with multiple NICs and ToR switches, achieving high throughput and maintaining link redundancy are critical. The configuration provided in Option D utilizes LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) with active mode, which allows for aggregating multiple network connections in parallel to increase throughput and provide redundancy. The balance-tcp mode of the bonding ensures optimal traffic distribution based on the TCP session, ensuring each session can utilize maximum available bandwidth across multiple links. This setting is crucial for environments requiring high network performance and reliability.References:

Nutanix Bible

Nutanix University NCS-Core Materials

To meet the customer requirements for automatic failover and resource balancing in a vSphere environment, two specific features need to be enabled: vSphere High Availability (HA) and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). vSphere HA ensures that VMs automatically restart on other hosts in the event of a host failure, providing high availability. vSphere DRS balances computing workloads with available resources in a vSphere environment, ensuring that resources are used efficiently and that new VMs are placed on hosts with the most available resources.

References:

Nutanix Bible: vSphere Integration

Nutanix University: Configuring vSphere Features

Regarding the Reserved Capacity parameter in a storage container:

C. Reserve capacity for a storage container only if the storage pool consists of a single storage container: This best practice ensures that dedicated space is guaranteed for the container, which is particularly important if the storage pool is not shared among multiple containers. This prevents space from being over-provisioned or unavailable when needed by critical applications.

References:

Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanixbible.com ), specifically sections on storage management and best practices for capacity planning.

Nutanix University: NCS-Core 6.8 Training (https://university.nutanix.com ), which includes detailed discussions on storage container configuration and management.