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NCSE-Core practice questions

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Question 1Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

In a Nutanix AOS cluster, what is the primary role of the Controller VM (CVM) running on each node?

  1. It provides the hypervisor layer that runs user virtual machines
  2. It serves all storage I/O for the host and participates in cluster-wide data placement Correct answer.
  3. It acts as the external management API gateway for Prism Central
  4. It manages out-of-band hardware power and console access

Explanation

Each node runs a Controller VM that owns the local disks, serves I/O to the hypervisor, and cooperates with peer CVMs to distribute and protect data across the cluster. The hypervisor itself is separate, and management functions like Prism Central are distinct services.

Question 2Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which Nutanix component provides a single management plane across multiple AOS clusters and adds features such as categories and broader analytics?

  1. Prism Central Correct answer.
  2. Prism Element
  3. Foundation
  4. NCC

Explanation

Prism Central is the multi-cluster management plane that aggregates registered Prism Element clusters and enables cross-cluster capabilities like categories, RBAC and reporting. Prism Element manages a single cluster.

Question 3Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What is the default replication factor for a Nutanix cluster with three or more nodes, and what does it mean?

  1. RF1, where only one copy of each extent exists in the cluster
  2. RF3, where three complete copies of each extent are maintained
  3. RF2, where two complete copies of each extent are maintained Correct answer.
  4. Erasure coding, where parity replaces all replica copies

Explanation

AOS defaults to a replication factor of 2, meaning two full copies of each data extent are stored on different nodes or disks. This tolerates a single component failure while keeping usable capacity reasonable.

Question 4Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which Nutanix feature groups VMs by user-defined labels so that policies such as protection or placement can be applied without referencing individual VM names?

  1. Storage pools
  2. Containers
  3. Projects
  4. Categories Correct answer.

Explanation

Categories are key-value labels assigned to VMs and other entities, and policy engines use them to select scope dynamically. Containers and storage pools are storage constructs, not labeling mechanisms.

Question 5Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What does the Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF) do in a Nutanix cluster?

  1. It caches VM memory pages across nodes for fault tolerance
  2. It provides only block-level LUNs to external SAN clients
  3. It aggregates local disks from all nodes into a single shared storage pool accessible to every host Correct answer.
  4. It replaces the hypervisor by running VMs directly on the CVM

Explanation

DSF pools the direct-attached disks of every node and presents them as a unified distributed datastore, so any VM on any host can access data regardless of physical location. It runs alongside the hypervisor rather than replacing it.

Question 6Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

In AHV, what is the role of the Acropolis service?

  1. It performs out-of-band hardware monitoring
  2. It encrypts data at rest across all nodes
  3. It provides the distributed storage layer for the cluster
  4. It handles VM lifecycle management and related cluster orchestration on the AHV host Correct answer.

Explanation

Acropolis is the AHV management layer that handles VM creation, scheduling and lifecycle operations on the host. Storage is handled by DSF and encryption by separate data-at-rest mechanisms.

Question 7Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What is the purpose of a storage container in a Nutanix cluster?

  1. It physically maps a single disk to a single VM
  2. It is the network segment used for backplane traffic
  3. It defines a logical datastore with its own policies such as replication factor and compression Correct answer.
  4. It stores only CVM operating system images

Explanation

A container is a logical storage construct presented to the hypervisor as a datastore, carrying policy settings like replication factor, compression and deduplication. It abstracts the underlying physical disks.

Question 8Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which statement best describes how Nutanix handles a node failure with replication factor 2 in place?

  1. Data is lost permanently because only one copy existed
  2. VMs on the failed node automatically move to external SAN storage
  3. The cluster halts all I/O until the failed node is replaced
  4. Surviving replicas continue serving I/O and the cluster later rebuilds lost copies Correct answer.

Explanation

With two replicas on separate failure domains, the surviving copy keeps data available, and AOS re-replicates to restore the desired factor once capacity allows. There is no dependency on external SAN storage.

Question 9Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

A VM needs to be protected so it can be recovered at a remote Nutanix cluster. Which capability should be configured?

  1. A storage pool expansion on the remote site
  2. Erasure coding on the source container
  3. A local snapshot schedule on the same cluster
  4. Protection domains with replication to a remote cluster Correct answer.

Explanation

Protection domains define which VMs are protected and replicate their snapshots to a remote cluster for disaster recovery. Local snapshots alone do not survive loss of the primary site.

Question 10Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What is the primary function of the Nutanix stargate service on a CVM?

  1. It schedules VM placement decisions
  2. It provides the web UI for Prism Element
  3. It handles the data I/O path and manages extents on local disks Correct answer.
  4. It performs certificate management for the cluster

Explanation

Stargate is the data services layer that processes I/O requests and manages extent groups on the local disks. UI and scheduling are handled by other services such as Prism and Acropolis.

Question 11Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which statement accurately distinguishes a Nutanix storage pool from a container?

  1. A container groups physical disks, while a storage pool is presented to the hypervisor
  2. A storage pool groups physical disks and is consumed by containers, which are the datastores presented to hosts Correct answer.
  3. A storage pool and a container are identical constructs with different names
  4. A storage pool is a logical datastore, while a container is a physical disk

Explanation

Storage pools aggregate the physical media on nodes, and containers carve logical datastores out of those pools with their own policies. The two are separate layers, not synonyms.

Question 12Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Why does Nutanix recommend keeping the CVM's management and storage traffic on separate VLANs from VM user traffic in many deployments?

  1. To reduce the number of physical NICs required per node
  2. To isolate and prioritize storage replication and management traffic from guest workloads Correct answer.
  3. To enable erasure coding on the cluster
  4. To allow containers to span multiple clusters

Explanation

Separating traffic preserves bandwidth and predictability for storage replication and cluster management, which are latency-sensitive. Guest traffic can then vary without degrading data-path performance.

Question 13Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

A cluster administrator wants to reduce storage consumption for cold data while keeping resiliency. Which Nutanix capability is designed for this?

  1. Protection domains
  2. Volume groups
  3. Erasure coding Correct answer.
  4. Replication factor 3

Explanation

Erasure coding stores data with parity rather than multiple full replicas, reducing capacity usage for suitable workloads while retaining fault tolerance. RF3 increases rather than decreases consumption.

Question 14Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What does a Nutanix volume group provide?

  1. Block storage presented to hosts or external clients via iSCSI or NFS Correct answer.
  2. A logical partition of the CVM boot disk
  3. A policy container for VM snapshots
  4. A grouping of CVMs for management

Explanation

Volume groups expose block storage that can be attached to VMs or external initiators using iSCSI, and they can also be presented over NFS. They are not snapshot policy containers or CVM groupings.

Question 15Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which Nutanix feature allows a VM to run on a host while its data is served from disks on other nodes in the cluster?

  1. Live migration with vMotion only
  2. Local-only datastores bound to each host
  3. The distributed nature of DSF, where I/O is redirected to the extent owner Correct answer.
  4. A dedicated SAN LUN zoned to the host

Explanation

Because DSF pools all disks, a host can serve I/O for data physically located elsewhere by redirecting requests to the node that owns the extent. This decouples VM placement from data locality.

Question 16Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What is the purpose of the Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) tool?

  1. It provides the REST API for automation
  2. It deploys AOS onto bare-metal nodes
  3. It runs health checks and identifies configuration or component issues in a cluster Correct answer.
  4. It replicates VMs to a remote site

Explanation

NCC performs diagnostic checks across cluster components and reports findings that help identify misconfigurations or failing parts. Deployment, API access and replication are handled by other tools.

Question 17Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

In a Nutanix cluster, what does the term 'extent' refer to?

  1. A physical NIC used for backplane traffic
  2. A license tier for Prism Central
  3. A VM's virtual CPU allocation
  4. A unit of data stored and tracked by the storage layer, replicated across failure domains Correct answer.

Explanation

Extents are the granular units into which data is divided and tracked by the distributed storage layer, with replicas placed on separate failure domains. They are a storage concept, not networking or licensing.

Question 18Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which scenario best justifies deploying Prism Central rather than relying only on Prism Element?

  1. A cluster that needs to image new nodes
  2. A single small cluster needing basic VM management
  3. An organization with several clusters wanting centralized RBAC, categories and reporting Correct answer.
  4. A cluster requiring only local snapshot scheduling

Explanation

Prism Central adds value when multiple clusters must be managed together with unified access control, categories and cross-cluster reporting. For a single cluster, Prism Element alone is often sufficient.

Question 19Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What happens to data availability if a cluster with replication factor 2 loses two replicas of the same extent simultaneously?

  1. The cluster automatically converts to erasure coding to recover
  2. The data remains fully available from a third copy
  3. The affected data becomes unavailable until the failure is resolved Correct answer.
  4. The CVM transparently reconstructs the data from parity

Explanation

With only two replicas, losing both copies of an extent leaves no source for that data, so it becomes unavailable. Parity reconstruction applies only when erasure coding is configured for that data.

Question 20Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

How does Nutanix AHV handle live migration of a running VM between hosts in the same cluster?

  1. It powers off the VM, moves it, and powers it back on
  2. It uses the shared DSF datastore and migrates VM memory state between hosts Correct answer.
  3. It requires shared external SAN storage to be presented to both hosts
  4. It requires the VM's disk to be manually copied to the target host

Explanation

Because all hosts see the same DSF-backed datastore, AHV can transfer memory state and continue running the VM on the target host without external shared storage. Manual disk copies are unnecessary.

Question 21Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

An administrator observes that a VM's writes are being redirected to a remote node. Which explanation is most consistent with Nutanix architecture?

  1. The VM is misconfigured and must be recreated
  2. The local CVM has failed and all I/O is being dropped
  3. The extent owner for that data resides on the remote node, so I/O is forwarded to it Correct answer.
  4. The cluster has lost quorum and cannot serve local I/O

Explanation

DSF routes I/O to the node that owns the relevant extent, so redirection to a remote node is normal behavior rather than a fault. It reflects data placement, not CVM failure or quorum loss.

Question 22Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which combination best explains why Nutanix can tolerate the loss of an entire node without data loss at RF2?

  1. All data is mirrored to an external array as a backup copy
  2. Erasure coding is always enabled by default to provide parity
  3. The CVM on each node keeps a full copy of every extent in the cluster
  4. Replicas are placed on separate failure domains and metadata tracks their locations for fast recovery Correct answer.

Explanation

AOS places the two replicas on distinct failure domains and maintains metadata describing replica locations, so a node loss leaves one accessible copy and enables targeted rebuild. External arrays and full per-node copies are not part of the design.

Question 23Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

A workload requires the lowest possible latency for reads. Which Nutanix capability should be considered to keep frequently accessed data close to the consuming VM?

  1. Using data locality with extent placement and caching on the local CVM Correct answer.
  2. Enabling erasure coding on the container
  3. Creating additional protection domains
  4. Increasing the replication factor to 3

Explanation

AOS places and caches extents to favor local access, and the local CVM can serve reads for data it holds, reducing network hops. Higher replication or erasure coding affects resiliency and capacity rather than read locality.

Question 24Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

Which statement correctly describes the relationship between a Nutanix cluster and Prism Element?

  1. Prism Element is a separate appliance that must be deployed before a cluster can run
  2. Prism Element is the storage service that owns extents
  3. Prism Element is the management interface exposed by the cluster's CVMs for that single cluster Correct answer.
  4. Prism Element manages all clusters in an organization from one endpoint

Explanation

Prism Element is the built-in per-cluster management interface served by the CVMs, requiring no separate appliance. Multi-cluster management is the role of Prism Central, and extent ownership belongs to stargate.

Question 25Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

What is the effect of configuring a container with deduplication and compression on the storage footprint of similar VM disks?

  1. It forces all VM data onto a single node for locality
  2. It disables erasure coding permanently for the cluster
  3. It reduces physical capacity consumed by eliminating redundant blocks and compressing them Correct answer.
  4. It increases the number of replicas to improve performance

Explanation

Deduplication removes duplicate blocks and compression shrinks stored data, lowering physical capacity use for suitable workloads. These settings do not alter replica count or pin data to one node.

Question 26Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

A Nutanix cluster is described as hyperconverged. Which statement best explains what that means in terms of where the software runs?

  1. Storage services are provided exclusively by a separate SAN fabric attached to each node
  2. The controller VM runs only on a dedicated storage appliance that is external to the compute nodes
  3. The controller VM runs on the same physical host as the hypervisor and provides storage services locally to that host Correct answer.
  4. The hypervisor runs inside a virtual machine managed by a central storage array controller

Explanation

Hyperconvergence means compute and storage services are combined on the same physical nodes, so each host runs a hypervisor plus a controller VM that serves storage locally while cooperating cluster-wide. There is no dedicated external storage array or SAN required for the core datastore.

Question 27Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

An administrator wants a single pane to manage several Nutanix clusters, apply consistent policies across them, and see capacity across all sites. Which component provides this multi-cluster management layer?

  1. Nutanix Guest Tools
  2. Prism Element
  3. Acropolis Dynamic Scheduler
  4. Prism Central Correct answer.

Explanation

Prism Central is the multi-cluster management plane that can register many Prism Element instances and provide cross-cluster visibility, policy, and centralized operations. Prism Element manages a single cluster, while the other options are guest tooling or scheduling features rather than a management plane.

Question 28Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

A Nutanix cluster uses replication factor 2. An administrator plans maintenance that will take one node offline. What is the expected impact on data availability for the affected extents?

  1. The cluster automatically lowers the effective replication factor to 1 permanently
  2. The cluster rebuilds replicas onto remaining nodes so the data stays available at the configured resiliency Correct answer.
  3. Only metadata becomes unavailable while user data remains fully readable
  4. Reads and writes fail for all extents until the node returns

Explanation

With RF2 each extent has two copies, so losing one node leaves one copy and the cluster can serve I/O while it re-protects data by creating replacement replicas on remaining nodes. Availability is maintained, though resiliency is temporarily reduced until rebuild completes.

Question 29Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

An administrator must give a latency-sensitive database VM on AHV direct block access to storage without going through a virtual disk controller. Which Nutanix construct should be used?

  1. A storage container with compression enabled
  2. A network segment on the AHV bridge
  3. A volume group presented to the guest as a disk Correct answer.
  4. A protection domain with a snapshot schedule

Explanation

A volume group exposes block storage to a guest as one or more disks that can be attached directly, which suits workloads needing raw block access rather than a standard virtual disk path. Containers, protection domains, and network segments serve different purposes and do not provide this direct block device presentation.

Question 30Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Fundamentals and Architecture

An administrator notices that a VM's read requests are consistently served from a CVM on a different node than the one running the VM. Which explanation is most consistent with Nutanix architecture?

  1. The data's local replica is unavailable or the I/O was routed to a node holding a valid replica, so the read is served remotely Correct answer.
  2. The local CVM has failed permanently and the VM is now bound to a remote CVM
  3. The VM has been converted to a volume group and therefore cannot use local storage
  4. AHV always forwards all reads to a randomly selected CVM to balance load

Explanation

Nutanix tries to serve I/O locally when a valid replica exists on the local node, but reads can be served by another CVM that holds a replica if the local copy is unavailable or placement leads to remote access. This distributed ownership model is a normal behavior rather than an error condition.

Question 31Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

In a Nutanix distributed storage fabric, what is the primary role of the Curator component running on each Controller VM?

  1. It terminates iSCSI sessions from external initiators and maps LUNs to vDisks
  2. It scans the metadata ring and performs background disk balancing and space reclamation Correct answer.
  3. It owns the cluster-wide distributed configuration database and election process
  4. It serves the Prism web console and REST API endpoints to administrators

Explanation

Curator is the background scanner that walks extent metadata, detects under-replicated or unbalanced extents, and triggers disk balancing, garbage collection, and space reclamation. It does not handle iSCSI serving, cluster configuration ownership, or the management UI.

Question 32Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

A Nutanix cluster is configured with RF3 (replication factor 3). How many copies of each extent does the distributed storage fabric maintain?

  1. Three copies on separate hosts or fault domains Correct answer.
  2. Two copies on separate hosts
  3. One copy plus a parity chunk
  4. Three copies, all on the same host for locality

Explanation

Replication factor 3 means the DSF stores three full replicas of each extent, placed on distinct hosts or fault domains so that a single failure does not lose data. Copies are deliberately spread, not co-located on one host.

Question 33Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which statement best describes how the Nutanix distributed storage fabric presents storage to a hypervisor host?

  1. Each host mounts a shared Fibre Channel LUN exported by a dedicated storage array
  2. Each host uses direct-attached SATA disks that no other host can access
  3. Each host's Controller VM exposes a local datastore backed by all cluster disks via NFS or SMB Correct answer.
  4. Each host streams vDisk blocks over iSCSI from a single elected storage master

Explanation

The Controller VM on each host runs a storage service that presents a datastore (typically NFS for ESXi, SMB for Hyper-V) whose data is distributed across every node in the cluster. There is no external array, no single storage master, and no host-isolated direct-attached model.

Question 34Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

What does a Nutanix extent group represent in the distributed storage fabric?

  1. A logical grouping of vDisks that share the same replication policy
  2. A contiguous chunk of physical disk space managed as a unit for placement and replication Correct answer.
  3. A snapshot chain that captures point-in-time VM state
  4. A network subnet used for storage traffic between Controller VMs

Explanation

Extent groups are the unit of physical allocation and replication in the DSF; metadata maps vDisk extents to these physical chunks. They are not vDisk groupings, network subnets, or snapshot constructs.

Question 35Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which Nutanix component maintains the cluster-wide metadata that maps vDisk extents to their physical locations?

  1. The Medusa metadata service backed by a distributed key-value store Correct answer.
  2. The Prism Element alert manager
  3. The AHV virtual switch
  4. The NGT guest tools agent

Explanation

Medusa is the metadata layer that records where each extent lives, backed by a distributed, replicated key-value store so the mapping survives node failures. Alerts, guest tools, and the virtual switch do not own extent mapping.

Question 36Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

What is the purpose of a protection domain in the Nutanix distributed storage fabric?

  1. It sets the maximum number of vDisks per container
  2. It defines which hosts can join the cluster
  3. It encrypts data at rest on each node
  4. It groups components so that their failure is treated as a single fault domain for placement Correct answer.

Explanation

A protection domain models a failure boundary, such as a block or host group, so that replicas are placed in different domains and a domain loss does not take out multiple copies. It does not govern cluster membership, vDisk counts, or encryption.

Question 37Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

A Nutanix cluster loses one host while running RF2. What is the immediate replication state of extents that had a replica on the failed host?

  1. They become under-replicated until Curator rebuilds a replacement copy Correct answer.
  2. They are immediately marked lost and all reads fail
  3. They are converted to erasure-coded chunks automatically
  4. They remain fully replicated because RF2 tolerates two failures

Explanation

With RF2 each extent has two copies; losing a host removes one copy, leaving the extent under-replicated but still readable. Curator later rebuilds a new replica on a surviving host to restore the desired count.

Question 38Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which Nutanix feature provides continuous, VM-granular crash-consistent and application-consistent recovery points replicated to a remote cluster?

  1. Erasure coding
  2. Protection domains
  3. Async DR with protection policies Correct answer.
  4. Volume groups

Explanation

Async DR uses protection policies to schedule snapshots of selected VMs and replicate them to a remote site, giving crash-consistent or app-consistent recovery points. Protection domains are failure boundaries, erasure coding saves space, and volume groups expose block storage.

Question 39Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

An administrator wants to reduce capacity overhead for cold data while keeping RF2 for active VM data. Which Nutanix capability is designed for this?

  1. Switching the cluster to RF1
  2. Erasure coding with a configured stripe width Correct answer.
  3. Disabling Curator scanning
  4. Enabling deduplication only

Explanation

Erasure coding stores data as parity stripes across nodes, cutting capacity overhead versus full replication, and is typically applied to colder data while active data stays replicated. Deduplication alone, RF1, or disabling Curator do not provide parity-based space savings.

Question 40Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

After a node failure in an RF3 cluster, Curator begins rebuilding replicas. Which statement describes the correct rebuild target?

  1. Restore every affected extent to three copies on hosts outside the failed fault domain Correct answer.
  2. Reduce affected extents to two copies to save space
  3. Move all affected extents onto a single surviving host
  4. Restore one copy on the failed host as soon as it reboots

Explanation

Rebuild restores the configured replication factor by creating replacement replicas on healthy hosts in different fault domains from the surviving copies. It does not wait for the failed host, lower the factor, or concentrate copies on one host.

Question 41Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which read behavior does the Nutanix Controller VM use to serve I/O for a vDisk whose data is distributed across nodes?

  1. It reconstructs data from parity on every read
  2. It reads locally when a local replica exists and otherwise fetches from a remote replica Correct answer.
  3. It reads only from the most recently written replica regardless of locality
  4. It always forwards every read to the node holding the metadata leader

Explanation

The Controller VM prefers a local replica to minimize network hops and falls back to a remote replica when no local copy exists. It does not route all reads through a metadata leader, depend on write recency, or reconstruct from parity on normal reads.

Question 42Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

A Nutanix cluster must survive the loss of an entire block. Which configuration ensures this?

  1. RF2 with replicas placed across hosts in different blocks Correct answer.
  2. RF3 with all replicas in the same block
  3. RF2 with replicas pinned to one host
  4. Erasure coding with a stripe confined to one block

Explanation

Surviving a block loss requires copies to be spread across distinct fault domains, which RF2 achieves when placement spans blocks. Keeping copies within one block, on one host, or in a single-block stripe leaves the data vulnerable to that domain's failure.

Question 43Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

What is the effect of enabling compression on a Nutanix container?

  1. It reduces the bytes written to disk by compressing data inline or post-process Correct answer.
  2. It reduces the number of replicas stored for each extent
  3. It converts replicated extents to parity stripes
  4. It increases the replication factor automatically

Explanation

Compression shrinks the on-disk footprint by compressing data as it is written or in the background, saving capacity and write bandwidth. It does not alter replica counts or convert replication to erasure coding.

Question 44Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

A VM's vDisk is configured on a container with RF2. During a host reboot, the cluster briefly has one replica of some extents. What does the DSF do to protect writes during this window?

  1. It silently downgrades the container to RF1
  2. It converts the extents to read-only
  3. It rejects all writes until a second replica exists
  4. It accepts writes and logs them so a new replica can be created from the surviving copy Correct answer.

Explanation

The DSF continues serving I/O using the surviving replica and records metadata so Curator can rebuild a second copy, preserving availability. It does not block writes, change the container policy, or force read-only mode.

Question 45Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which Nutanix mechanism allows a vDisk to be moved or its data rebalanced without disrupting running VMs?

  1. Snapshot restore to a new container
  2. Offline disk evacuation requiring VM shutdown
  3. Live extent migration performed by Curator and the storage services Correct answer.
  4. Manual LUN rescan from the hypervisor

Explanation

Curator and the storage services migrate extents online, so data can be rebalanced or relocated while VMs keep running. This does not require shutdown, manual rescans, or snapshot restores.

Question 46Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

What is the role of a storage container in the Nutanix distributed storage fabric?

  1. It defines a logical storage pool with its own policies such as replication factor and compression Correct answer.
  2. It is a snapshot schedule attached to a VM
  3. It is a network VLAN dedicated to replication traffic
  4. It is a physical disk that stores only metadata

Explanation

A container is a logical pool that groups vDisks and applies policies like replication factor, compression, deduplication, and erasure coding. It is not a physical disk, a network VLAN, or a snapshot schedule.

Question 47Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

An administrator observes that Curator has not run for an extended period. Which risk is most directly associated with this condition?

  1. The replication factor will automatically increase
  2. Under-replicated extents may remain unrepaired after failures Correct answer.
  3. All vDisks will become read-only
  4. The cluster will immediately lose quorum

Explanation

Curator drives rebuilds and balancing; if it stalls, extents left under-replicated after a failure are not repaired, reducing resilience. Quorum, read-only state, and replication factor changes are governed by other mechanisms.

Question 48Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which statement correctly distinguishes nearline snapshots from async DR replication in Nutanix?

  1. Nearline snapshots change the container replication factor
  2. Nearline snapshots are always replicated offsite, while async DR keeps data local
  3. Nearline snapshots are stored locally for fast recovery, while async DR replicates recovery points to a remote site Correct answer.
  4. Both features require shutting down VMs to operate

Explanation

Nearline snapshots keep point-in-time copies on the local cluster for quick rollback, whereas async DR sends scheduled snapshots to a remote cluster for site-level protection. Neither requires VM shutdown or alters replication factor.

Question 49Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

A cluster uses erasure coding for a container. What happens to read performance and resilience compared with RF2 for the same data?

  1. Resilience is higher than RF3 with no capacity savings
  2. Reads require reconstructing from parity in all cases, and resilience is lower
  3. Reads are served from data fragments when possible, and resilience is comparable for the configured stripe Correct answer.
  4. Reads become impossible without all nodes online

Explanation

Erasure coding stores data and parity fragments across nodes; reads normally use data fragments and reconstruct only when a fragment is missing, while resilience is designed to tolerate the configured number of failures. It does not make reads impossible or universally require reconstruction.

Question 50Distributed Storage Fabric and Data Resilience

Which Nutanix construct allows a vDisk to be served to an external host as a block device over iSCSI?

  1. A container
  2. A volume group Correct answer.
  3. A protection domain
  4. A nearline snapshot

Explanation

Volume groups expose vDisks as block devices over iSCSI to external initiators, useful for physical servers or clusters needing shared block storage. Protection domains, containers, and snapshots serve different purposes.