NCS-Core key terms

The per-cluster management interface that configures and monitors a single Nutanix cluster, including storage, VMs, alerts, and health, and which forwards to Prism Central for multi-cluster views.

A multi-cluster management appliance that aggregates registered Prism Elements for centralized inventory, categories, policies, reporting, and cross-cluster operations such as protection and automation.

A virtual machine running on every node that serves storage I/O for that host, participates in the distributed storage fabric, and hosts Prism Element on one elected node.

The software-defined storage layer that pools local disks across nodes, replicates data for resilience, and serves reads and writes through the controller VMs.

A logical namespace presented to hypervisors that groups datastores and applies policies such as replication factor, compression, deduplication, and encryption to the VMs inside it.

The number of copies of each data extent the cluster keeps, commonly two or three, which determines how many simultaneous component failures the data can survive.

The level of component failure a cluster can absorb while keeping data available, derived from replication factor and disk or node layout.

A set of Nutanix nodes managed as one unit that shares a distributed storage fabric, a single Prism Element, and a common hypervisor or AHV deployment.

Nutanix's native KVM-based hypervisor included with the platform, managed through Prism and supporting live migration, HA, and VM-level operations without a separate license.

The deployment tool used to image bare-metal nodes, discover hardware, assign IP addresses, and create the initial cluster before Prism Element becomes available.

The process of writing the hypervisor and controller VM images to node disks during deployment, typically orchestrated by Foundation or a vendor-specific installer.

The post-imaging configuration step that sets cluster name, virtual IP, DNS, NTP, and credentials so the new cluster can be reached through Prism Element.

A floating address owned by the cluster and used by clients and administrators to reach Prism Element and services regardless of which node currently hosts them.

The per-node management address assigned to each controller VM, used for internode communication, replication, and direct troubleshooting access.

The internal network connecting controller VMs and hypervisors across nodes, carrying storage replication and cluster traffic, usually on a dedicated subnet.

Separating management, storage, and guest traffic onto distinct VLANs or subnets to isolate load, improve security, and simplify troubleshooting.

A logical Layer 2 network segment identified by an 802.1Q tag, used on Nutanix to separate management, storage, and VM traffic on shared physical links.

An aggregation of physical NICs into one logical interface for redundancy or throughput, configured in balance modes such as active-backup or LACP.

A named grouping of VMs and volume groups used as the unit for snapshot schedules, replication to remote sites, and recovery operations.

A point-in-time, space-efficient copy of VM or volume data retained locally or remotely for rollback, cloning, or replication.

Sending scheduled snapshot changes from a protection domain on one cluster to a remote cluster for disaster recovery, with recovery point objectives set by schedule.

Key-value labels applied to VMs and other objects in Prism Central that drive policy scoping, search, reporting, and automation targeting.

The Prism framework that inventories firmware and software components, checks compatibility, and performs guided updates of hosts, CVMs, and management software.

The controlled process of moving cluster software, hypervisor, or firmware to a newer supported version, including prechecks, rolling updates, and post-verification.

A health and diagnostics tool that runs rule-based checks on a cluster and produces findings with severity and remediation guidance for support cases.

Automated validation of cluster components such as disks, services, and configuration, surfaced in Prism and used to detect issues before they affect workloads.

A notification generated when a monitored condition crosses a threshold or a component fails, carrying severity, affected entity, and suggested resolution.

The log collection utility that gathers cluster, CVM, and hypervisor logs into a bundle for analysis or attachment to a support case.

The vendor web portal used to open and track cases, upload log bundles, review advisories, and download software and firmware.

Adding nodes to an existing cluster, which triggers data rebalancing across the new capacity while the cluster stays online.

The background redistribution of data extents across nodes after expansion or failure so capacity and performance are spread evenly.

Moving a running VM between hosts without downtime, used for maintenance and load balancing and dependent on shared storage visibility.

Assigning permissions to users or groups through roles scoped to objects or categories, limiting what each account can view or change.

An external identity provider such as Active Directory or LDAP that Nutanix can join so users authenticate with centralized accounts and group membership.

A security mode that restricts SSH access to the controller VMs, requiring explicit enablement and typically allowing only key-based administrative access.

The REST interface exposed by Prism for managing VMs, clusters, and storage, using JSON payloads and task-based asynchronous operations.

An asynchronous operation record returned by API calls and shown in Prism, tracking progress, status, and errors for long-running actions.

An automation definition in Prism Central that runs a sequence of actions triggered manually, on a schedule, or by an alert condition.

The Prism Central service for blueprint-based application provisioning and lifecycle automation across clusters and environments.