Nutanix NCA-6.10 - Nutanix Certified Associate NCA v6.10

In a cluster configured with Redundancy Factor 3 (RF3), the system ensures that data is replicated across at least three nodes to tolerate the failure of two nodes. During an AHV upgrade, Nutanix only placesone node at a timeinto maintenance mode, even in an RF3 configuration, to minimize the impact on data redundancy and cluster operations.

A. 1:Correct, as AHV upgrades proceed node by node in RF3.

B. 2, C. 3, D. 4:These options are incorrect, as only one node is upgraded at a time regardless of RF3.

To prevent password access to the CVM for both thenutanixandadminuser accounts,Cluster Lockdownshould be enabled. Cluster Lockdown restricts SSH access to the Controller VM (CVM), effectively disabling password-based logins for enhanced security. Access is then managed through more secure means, such as console access or specific tools like Nutanix Support.

A. Cluster Lockdown:Correct, as this prevents SSH-based access to the CVM.

B. STIG:Incorrect, as STIG (Security Technical Implementation Guide) focuses on broader compliance measures.

C. RBAC Policy on PC:Incorrect, as RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) controls Prism Central permissions, not CVM access.

D. Data-at-Rest Encryption:Incorrect, as this secures stored data, not access credentials.

The feature that ensures VMs automatically power on in a specific order at the DR site during a disaster is aRecovery Plan. Recovery Plans are part of Nutanix’s DR functionality and allow administrators to define startup sequences, dependencies, and priorities for VMs during failover scenarios.

Steps:

Create a Recovery Plan in Prism Central under the DR section.

Configure the VM power-on sequence and dependency rules.

Test the Recovery Plan to ensure it operates as intended.

The correct answer isD. Software-only Encryption.

Nutanix supportsData-at-Rest Encryption (DARE)through bothhardware-basedandsoftware-basedmethods. Among the supported solutions,software-only encryptionis a widely used and officially supported method, especially whenSelf-Encrypting Drives (SEDs)are not in use.

Key facts about Nutanix DARE:

Enables encryption of data written to physical media.

Works at theCVM and controller layer, ensuring all I/O is encrypted before being persisted.

Software-based encryptioncan be enabled via Prism Central or command-line usingNative Key Management (NKM)orexternal KMIP-compliant key managers.

Hardware encryption (SED)is optional and not required for DARE.

Clarifications:

A. Storage Pool-only Encryption: Not valid; encryption applies at thecluster level, not only to storage pools.

B. Data-only Encryption: Ambiguous and not a Nutanix-supported term.

C. Cluster-only Encryption: Misleading; encryption is applied to data at rest, not to the "cluster" object.

Prism UI Navigation Path:

Settings > Security > Encryption

Official Reference:

Nutanix Security Guide – Data-at-Rest Encryption

Nutanix Bible – Encryption Section

Excerpt: “Nutanix supports software-only data-at-rest encryption using Native Key Management or external KMIP key managers, without requiring self-encrypting drives.”

Answer: D

The default admin session logout time in Nutanix is15 minutes. If no activity is detected within this time, the session is automatically logged out for security reasons. This timeout can be adjusted in the system settings if needed, depending on organizational requirements.

To rerun only the health checks that previously failed or issued warnings, the administrator can select theOnly Failed and Warning Checksoption in Prism Element. This targeted approach helps verify that resolved issues have been addressed without rerunning all checks unnecessarily.

Steps:

Navigate toPrism Element > Health > NCC Checks.

Filter forOnly Failed and Warning Checksand rerun them.

Other options:

A. Run LCM Pre-Upgrade: Runs pre-upgrade checks, not related to health check validation.

B. Runncc health_checks run_all: Executes all checks, not just failed ones.

C. Select Run Check for each check worked: Requires manual execution for each check.

The correct answer isA. NearSync Replication.

Key Concepts from Official Nutanix Documentation:

Nutanix supports various types of data replication methods depending on the Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Recovery Time Objective (RTO), and the latency between the sites.

Metro Availabilityrequires a maximum latency of<5ms RTTand is used forzero RPO synchronous replication. Since the given latency is 10ms,Metro Availability is not supportedin this case.

In Nutanix Prism Element, thered heart iconat the top-right of the UI indicates that there is acritical alertaffecting the cluster's health. This icon is part of theAlert Monitoring System, and clicking on it redirects the user to theAlerts dashboard, where all current active alerts—including their severity, source, and recommended remediation steps—are listed.

What to do:

Navigate to theAlertssection.

Review allcritical alertsfor further diagnosis.

Cross-reference with theHealth dashboardif deeper system component checks are needed.

Clarification of Other Options:

A. Health:Summarizes system component states but does not provide detailed alert causes.

B. Tasks:Tracks user-initiated jobs, unrelated to fault diagnosis.

D. Analysis:Used for performance metrics and trends, not fault alerts.

Prism UI Navigation Path:

Click the red heart icon → Alerts Dashboard

Official Reference:

Nutanix Administration Guide – Alerts and Monitoring

Excerpt: “A red heart icon in Prism indicates a critical alert. Use the Alerts dashboard to identify and resolve the issue.”

The correct answer isD. Flow Virtual Networking (FVN).

Flow Virtual Networking (FVN)is a Nutanix solution that enablesadvanced network virtualization, including:

VPCs (Virtual Private Clouds)

Overlapping IP address spaces

Self-service network provisioning

Multi-tenancy support

Microsegmentation

FVN abstracts physical networking and allows tenants to manageisolated logical networks, providing cloud-like networking capabilities directly integrated with AHV.

Clarifications:

A. Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP):Orchestrates containers; does not provide virtualized network infrastructure.

B. Flow Network Security:Focuses onmicrosegmentationandpolicy enforcement, not on VPC or L3 abstraction.

C. Nutanix Database Service (NDB):Manages DBaaS; not related to networking.

Official Reference:

Nutanix Flow Virtual Networking Tech Note

Nutanix Documentation Portal – Flow Virtual Networking

Excerpt: “Flow Virtual Networking provides VPCs, overlapping IPs, and self-service networking capabilities for secure multi-tenancy in Nutanix AHV clusters.”

Answer: D