Nutanix Certified Professional (NCP) NCP-US-6.5 Reddit Questions

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 development team needs a solution to upload code via API calls while retaining older versions of the code as newer versions are developed. This use case aligns with versioned object storage, which supports API-based uploads (e.g., S3 APIs) and automatic versioning.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Create a bucket in Objects with Versioning enabled): Correct. Nutanix Objects, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), provides S3-compatible object storage. It supports versioning, which allows multiple versions of an object to be retained when new versions are uploaded. The S3 API is ideal for programmatic uploads via API calls, meeting the developers’ requirement to upload code for testing while retaining older iterations.

Option B (Create an SMB Share with Files and enable Previous Versions): Incorrect. Nutanix Files supports SMB shares with the Previous Versions feature (via Self-Service Restore), which allows users to access earlier versions of files. However, SMB is not typically accessed via API calls—it’s designed for file sharing over a network (e.g., Windows clients). This does not align with the requirement for API-based uploads.

Option C (Provision a Volume Group and connect via iSCSI with MPIO): Incorrect. Nutanix Volumes provides block storage via iSCSI, which is suitable for applications requiring low-level storage access (e.g., databases). However, iSCSI does not support API-based uploads or versioning, making it unsuitable for the developers’ needs.

Option D (Create an NFS Share mounted on a Linux Server with Files): Incorrect. An NFS share in Nutanix Files allows file access over the NFS protocol, which can be mounted on a Linux server. While NFS supports file storage, it does not natively provide versioning, and NFS is not typically accessed via API calls for programmatic uploads.

Why Option A is the Best Solution:

Nutanix Objects with Versioning: Objects supports S3 APIs, which are widely used for programmatic uploads in development workflows. Enabling versioning ensures that older versions of the code are retained automatically when new versions are uploaded, meeting the requirement to retain older iterations.

API Support: The S3 API is a standard for API-based uploads, making it ideal for the developers’ workflow.

Scalability: Objects is designed for scalable object storage, suitable for development and testing environments.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Objects Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“Nutanix Objects supports versioning for buckets, allowing multiple versions of an object to be retained. When versioning is enabled, uploading a new version of an object preserves the previous versions, which can be accessed or restored via S3 API calls. This feature is ideal for development workflows where older iterations of files need to be retained.”

Smart DR in Nutanix Files, part of Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS), automates disaster recovery (DR) by replicating shares between primary and recovery file servers (e.g., using NearSync, as in Question 24). The administrator is using Smart DR to protect a Files share and needs seamless client redirection in the event of a failure, meaning clients should automatically connect to the recovery site without manual intervention.

Understanding the Requirement:

Smart DR Protection: Smart DR replicates the Files share from the primary site to the recovery site, typically with the primary site in read-write (RW) mode and the recovery site in read-only (RO) mode (as seen in the exhibit for Question 24).

Seamless Client Redirection: In a failure scenario (e.g., primary site down), clients should automatically redirect to the recovery site without needing to reconfigure their connections (e.g., changing the share path or IP address).

Files Share Context: Clients typically access Files shares via SMB or NFS, using a hostname or IP address (e.g., \fileserver\share for SMB or fileserver:/share for NFS).

Analysis of Options:

Option A (Create a reverse replication policy): Incorrect. A reverse replication policy would replicate data from the recovery site back to the primary site, typically used after failover to prepare for failback. This does not address seamless client redirection during a failure—it focuses on data replication direction, not client connectivity.

Option B (Enable redirection in the protection policy): Incorrect. Smart DR protection policies define replication settings (e.g., RPO, schedule), but there is no “redirection” setting in the policy itself. Client redirection in Nutanix Files DR scenarios is managed through external mechanisms like DNS, not within the protection policy.

Option C (Update the AD and DNS entries): Correct. Seamless client redirection in Nutanix Files DR scenarios requires that clients can automatically connect to the recovery site without changing their share paths. This is achieved by updating Active Directory (AD) and DNS entries:

DNS Update: The hostname of the file server (e.g., fileserver.company.com) should resolve to the IP address of the primary site’s File Server under normal conditions. During a failure, DNS is updated to point to the recovery site’s File Server IP address (e.g., the Client network IP of the recovery FSVMs). This ensures clients automatically connect to the recovery site without changing the share path (e.g., \fileserver.company.com\share continues to work).

AD Update: For SMB shares, the Service Principal Name (SPN) in AD must be updated to reflect the recovery site’s File Server, ensuring Kerberos authentication works seamlessly after failover.This approach ensures clients are redirected without manual intervention, meeting the “seamless” requirement.

Option D (Activate protected shares on the recovery site): Incorrect. Activating protected shares on the recovery site (e.g., making them RW during failover) is a necessary step for failover, but it does not ensure seamless client redirection. Without updating DNS/AD, clients will not know to connect to the recovery site—they will continue trying to access the primary site’s IP address, requiring manual reconfiguration (e.g., changing the share path), which is not seamless.

Why Option C?

Seamless client redirection in a Nutanix Files DR scenario requires that clients can connect to the recovery site without changing their share paths. Updating AD and DNS entries ensures that the file server’s hostname resolves to the recovery site’s IP address after failover, and AD authentication (e.g., Kerberos for SMB) continues to work. This allows clients to automatically redirect to the recovery site without manual intervention, fulfilling the requirement for seamlessness.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Files Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“To ensure seamless client redirection during a Smart DR failover, update Active Directory (AD) and DNS entries. Configure DNS to resolve the file server’s hostname to the recovery site’s File Server IP address after failover, and update the Service Principal Name (SPN) in AD to ensure Kerberos authentication works for SMB clients. This allows clients to automatically connect to the recovery site without manual reconfiguration.”