NCP-US-6.5 Sample Questions Answers

Nutanix Volumes uses IQN-based authorization to control access to volumes. The administrator must specify the IQN of the host that needs to access the volume when creating or editing the volume. If the host’s IQN is not authorized, it will not be able to see the target in the MS iSCSI Initiator3. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide3

The “X” on the icon represents a distributed shared file, which is a file that belongs to a distributed share or export. A distributed share or export is a type of SMB share or NFS export that distributes the hosting of top-level directories across multiple FSVMs. The “X” indicates that the file is not hosted by the current FSVM, but by another FSVM in the cluster. The “X” also helps to identify which files are eligible for migration when using the Nutanix Files Migration Tool. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 34; Nutanix Files Migration Tool User Guide, page 10

The most likely cause for this issue is that the file server resides on a single node cluster. 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 option to use distributed share/export type instead of standard is not present when creating a share on a single node cluster. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 33; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 8

Nutanix Files provides a built-in ransomware prevention feature that allows administrators to block malicious file signatures from being written to the file system. However, this feature has a limit of 300 signatures per share or export. If the list of malicious file signatures to block is greater than 300, a third-party solution is recommended2. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide2

The administrator should prevent the Files environment and the AD Server from having such a time difference in future by using the same NTP Servers for the File environment and the AD Server. NTP (Network Time Protocol) is a protocol that synchronizes the clocks of devices on a network with a reliable time source. NTP Servers are devices that provide accurate time information to other devices on a network. By using the same NTP Servers for the File environment and the AD Server, the administrator can ensure that they have consistent and accurate time settings and avoid any synchronization issues or errors. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 32; Nutanix Files Troubleshooting Guide

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

The administrator can meet this requirement by configuring data protection policies in the Files view in Prism Central. Data protection policies are policies that define how file data is protected by taking snapshots, replicating them to another site, or tiering them to cloud storage. Data protection policies can be configured for each share or export in a file server in the Files view in Prism Central. The administrator can create different data protection policies for different shares or exports based on their protection needs and requirements. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 79; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 9

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 solution that meets the company’s requirements for their file storage needs is Files. Files is a feature that allows users to create and manage file server instances (FSIs) on a Nutanix cluster. FSIs can provide SMB and NFS access to file shares and exports for different types of clients. Files supports these requirements:

• Distributed File System: Files uses a distributed file system that spans across multiple FSVMs (File Server VMs), which improves scalability, performance, and availability.
• Active Directory integrated: Files can integrate with Active Directory for authentication and authorization of SMB clients and multiprotocol NFS clients.
• Scale out architecture: Files can scale out by adding more FSVMs to an existing FSI or creating new FSIs on the same or different clusters. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 27; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 6

The prerequisite that must be performed before performing one-click hypervisor upgrades is to disable the anti-affinity rules on all FSVMs. Anti-affinity rules are rules that prevent two or more VMs from running on the same host at the same time. Anti-affinity rules can improve the availability and performance of FSVMs by distributing them across different hosts in a cluster. However, anti-affinity rules can interfere with one-click hypervisor upgrades, which require all VMs on a host to be migrated to another host before upgrading the host. Therefore, the administrator must disable the anti-affinity rules on all FSVMs before performing one-click hypervisor upgrades, and re-enable them after the upgrades are completed. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 22; Nutanix Files Upgrade Guide

The configuration that is required for an Objects deployment is to configure NTP servers on both Prism Element and Prism Central. NTP (Network Time Protocol) is a protocol that synchronizes the clocks of devices on a network with a reliable time source. NTP servers are devices that provide accurate time information to other devices on a network. Configuring NTP servers on both Prism Element and Prism Central is required for an Objects deployment, because it ensures that the time settings are consistent and accurate across the Nutanix cluster and the Objects cluster, which can prevent any synchronization issues or errors. References: Nutanix Objects User Guide, page 9; Nutanix Objects Deployment Guide

Smart Tiering is a feature that allows Files to tier data across different storage tiers based on the file size and access frequency. Smart Tiering supports files with a minimum size of 64 KiB and a maximum size of 5 TiB2. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide2

Nutanix Volumes allows administrators to provision a volume group with one or more volumes that can be attached to multiple VMs or physical servers via iSCSI. This enables the creation of a Microsoft Server Failover Cluster that uses shared storage for a critical application. The volume group can be attached to VMs running on an AHV-hosted cluster and bare metal servers for maximum resiliency1. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide1

Data Lens is a SaaS that provides file analytics and reporting, anomaly detection, audit trails, ransomware protection features, and tiering management for Nutanix Files. To configure Data Lens, one of the network requirements is to allow HTTPS (port 443) traffic between a CVM or Prism Central to insights.nutanix.com. This allows Data Lens to collect metadata and statistics from the FSVMs and display them in a graphical user interface. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 93; Nutanix Data Lens User Guide

Nutanix File Analytics is a feature that provides insights into the usage and activity of file data stored on Nutanix 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. The FAVM collects metadata and statistics from the FSVMs and displays them in a graphical user interface (GUI). The FAVM must be deployed on the same network as the FSVMs, which is the Client-side network. This network is used for communication between File Analytics and FSVMs, as well as for accessing the File Analytics UI from a web browser. The Client-side network must have DHCP enabled and must be routable from the external hosts that access the file shares and File Analytics UI. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 93; Nutanix File Analytics Deployment Guide

The Files Console Dashboard View provides an overview of the Files cluster performance and usage, including the following graphs:

• Storage Used: Shows the total storage used by the Files cluster, including data, metadata, and snapshots.
• Open Connections: Shows the number of active SMB and NFS connections to the Files cluster.
• Number of Files: Shows the number of files stored in the Files cluster, excluding snapshots.
• Top Shares by Current Capacity: Shows the top five shares by current capacity usage in the Files cluster.
• Top Shares by Current Connections: Shows the top five shares by current connection count in the Files cluster2. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide2

The administrator can achieve this requirement by creating a bucket replication rule and setting the destination Objects instance. Bucket replication is a feature that allows administrators to replicate data from one bucket to another bucket on a different Objects instance for disaster recovery or data migration purposes. Bucket replication can be configured with various parameters, such as replication mode, replication frequency, replication status, etc. Bucket replication can also replicate all versions of objects, including delete markers, which are special versions that indicate that an object has been deleted. By creating a bucket replication rule and setting the destination Objects instance, the administrator can replicate data from one Objects instance to another asynchronously, including all delete markers and versions. References: Nutanix Objects User Guide, page 19; Nutanix Objects Solution Guide, page 9

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

The two network requirements for a four-node FSVM deployment are five available IP addresses on the Client network and five available IP addresses on the Storage network. The Client network is used for communication between the FSVMs and the clients, while the Storage network is used for communication between the FSVMs and the CVMs. For each FSVM, one Client IP and one Storage IP are required. Additionally, one extra Client IP is required for the file server VIP (Virtual IP), which is used as a single point of access for all shares and exports on the file server. References: Nutanix Files Administration Guide, page 28; Nutanix Files Solution Guide, page 7