NCM-MCI study plan

Diagram a reference Nutanix cluster topology (three or more nodes, Prism Central, VLAN segmentation) from memory and label every component and traffic path

Explain to a peer, without notes, how a Nutanix Distributed Storage Fabric handles a write and where redundancy is introduced

Compare hybrid, all-flash, and storage-only node roles and justify a node selection for a stated workload profile

List the sizing inputs (usable capacity, RF, overhead, growth headroom) needed before a cluster design and compute a worked example

Walk through the Foundation imaging workflow end to end and describe what each phase produces

Sequence the steps to deploy Prism Element and then register Prism Central, noting prerequisites at each step

Identify which design decisions (RF, VLANs, cluster name, IP pools) must be locked before imaging begins

Draft a pre-deployment checklist that a customer could sign off on

Configure and compare replication factor 2 and 3, then describe the failure scenarios each survives

Explain how snapshots, clones, and consistency groups differ in cost and use case

Describe Prism Central categories and how they enable policy-driven placement

Practice creating a protection domain or equivalent data-protection policy and state what it protects

Map physical VLANs to virtual networks and describe how a VM's traffic leaves the host

Explain Flow Network Security policy structure (categories, policy types, enforcement points) and draft two policies

Describe identity sources, role-based access control, and the principle of least privilege in Prism Central

Contrast network segmentation approaches for guest VMs and for management traffic

Create, clone, and migrate VMs and describe what happens to storage and network identity at each step

Explain live migration behavior and the network and storage preconditions it requires

Describe overlay networking concepts and when an overlay is preferable to VLAN stretching

Draft a VM lifecycle standard covering naming, categories, and decommissioning

Read cluster health and performance charts and identify the top three indicators of contention

Explain how to isolate whether latency originates in the guest, the network, or the storage layer

Describe rebuild and resiliency behavior after a node or disk failure and what to monitor during rebuild

Practice writing a troubleshooting narrative from symptom to root cause for two scenarios

Describe lifecycle operations including upgrades and how Prism Central orchestrates them

Explain where automation fits (APIs, scripting, self-service) and the guardrails needed

Outline a patching and upgrade plan with rollback considerations

Describe audit and compliance visibility available for administrative actions

Re-derive the week-1 design brief and correct any errors found against your notes

Answer 60 or more practice items across all domains and log every miss with its domain

Re-study only the two weakest domains identified by the practice log

Write a one-paragraph explanation of each domain's core concept from memory