Nutanix Nutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US) v6.10 NCP-US-6.10 Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (October 2025)

Smart DR(Disaster Recovery) for Nutanix Files ensures that the file server VMs (FSVMs) at therecovery sitemirror the configuration of the primary site. Specifically, it requires that:

“The number of FSVMs deployed at the recovery site mustmatchthe number of FSVMs at the primary site.”

The primary site has3 FSVMs.

Therefore, the recovery site must also have3 FSVMsdeployed to ensure consistency and proper operation of Smart DR for file services.

The administrator is attempting to scale out a Nutanix Files deployment by adding more File Server Virtual Machines (FSVMs) to a multi-node FSVM deployment on a three-node AHV cluster, but the operation has failed. The first step the administrator should take is toexpand the AHV cluster. Nutanix Files requires a minimum number of nodes in the cluster to support a scale-out operation, and a three-node cluster may not have sufficient resources (nodes) to accommodate additional FSVMs.

TheNutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA)course states, “Nutanix Files scale-out operations require sufficient cluster nodes to host additional FSVMs, and a minimum of four nodes is recommended for scaling out a multi-node FSVM deployment.” In a three-node cluster, each node typically hosts one FSVM (for a total of three FSVMs), and scaling out to add more FSVMs requires additional nodes to distribute the new FSVMs. If the cluster does not have enough nodes, the scale-out operation will fail, as there are no available nodes to host the new FSVMs.

TheNutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US)study guide further elaborates that “when a Nutanix Files scale-out operation fails on a small cluster, the first step is to verify the cluster size and expand the AHV cluster by adding more nodes to support the additional FSVMs.” Expanding the cluster to at least four nodes provides the necessary capacity to host a new FSVM, allowing the scale-out operation to succeed.

The other options are incorrect:

Add RAM to the physical hosts: While insufficient RAM could cause issues, the failure of a scale-out operation is more likely due to a lack of nodes rather than RAM, especially since FSVMs have specific node placement requirements.

Failover to secondary site: Failover to a secondary site is relevant for disaster recovery (e.g., using Smart DR), not for resolving a scale-out failure within the primary cluster.

Add DNS entries: DNS entries may be needed for client access to Nutanix Files, but they are not directly related to the scale-out operation of FSVMs within the cluster.

The NUSA course documentation emphasizes that “a common cause of Nutanix Files scale-out failures in small clusters is insufficient nodes; expanding the AHV cluster to at least four nodes is the first step to ensure successful scaling.”

Nutanix Files includes several features for managing data availability and mobility across sites. Here’s the detailed breakdown:

Data Sync— This feature is designed toreplicate user data between file servers at different locations. It enablesbi-directional or one-way file-level replicationfor use cases such as:

Branch office file sharing

Geo-dispersed data access

Centralized backups of branch data

From the NUSA course materials:

“Data Sync provides file-level replication across geographically distributed Nutanix Files deployments, ensuring consistent data access and synchronization across multiple sites.”

This feature is purpose-built forcross-location file data replication, meeting the administrator’s need.

Data Protection— Refers to snapshot-based local or remote protection of theentire file server or shares, not file-level sync across different locations.

Smart Sync— Specific to Object data within Nutanix Objects, not for Files.

VDI Sync— Designed for syncing user profiles in VDI environments, not general file share replication.

Thus, the administrator should useData Syncfor replicating user data across file servers in different locations.

Directory services integration (e.g., Active Directory) is mandatory for SMB shares to:

Authenticate users.

Apply access controls (ACLs).

Enable Kerberos-based security.Without this, SMB shares cannot be accessed by domain-joined clients.

Option B: Prism Central registration enables central management but isn't a share prerequisite.

Option C: afs infra.start is an invalid command.

Option D: Password policies are enforced via directory services but not a standalone prerequisite.

To monitor key information about a Nutanix Files deployment, such asMalicious Clients,Vulnerable Shares, and alist of potential ransomware attack attempts, the administrator must deploy theFile Analytics VMon-premises. Nutanix File Analytics is a dedicated virtual machine that provides advanced monitoring and analytics for Nutanix Files, offering insights into security-related activities, including malicious client behavior, share vulnerabilities, and ransomware detection.

TheNutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA)course states, “File Analytics is a VM that must be deployed on-premises to provide detailed monitoring of Nutanix Files, including identifying Malicious Clients, Vulnerable Shares, and potential ransomware attack attempts through its analytics and anomaly detection features.” File Analytics includes dashboards and widgets that specifically highlight security risks, such as the Malicious Clients list (clients exhibiting suspicious behavior), Vulnerable Shares (shares with overly permissive access), and ransomware detection (based on file activity patterns like mass encryption or renaming).

TheNutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US)study guide further elaborates that “deploying the File Analytics VM enables administrators to monitor Nutanix Files for security threats, providing visibility into Malicious Clients, Vulnerable Shares, and ransomware attempts through its integrated analytics engine.” File Analytics runs locally within the Nutanix cluster, making it suitable for on-premises deployments and capable of operating in isolated environments like dark sites.

The other options are incorrect:

LCM dark site webserver: An LCM dark site webserver is used to host software updates for LCM in air-gapped environments but does not provide monitoring or analytics for Nutanix Files.

Prism Central: Prism Central provides centralized management and monitoring for Nutanix clusters but does not offer the specific security-focused analytics (e.g., Malicious Clients, ransomware detection) that File Analytics provides for Nutanix Files.

Data Lens: Nutanix Data Lens is a cloud-based service for data lifecycle management and analytics, primarily for Nutanix Objects and Files, but it focuses on tiering and data placement, not security monitoring like ransomware detection or malicious clients.

The NUSA course documentation emphasizes that “the File Analytics VM is the essential on-premises component for monitoring Nutanix Files, providing critical security insights such as Malicious Clients, Vulnerable Shares, and ransomware attack attempts.”

Nutanix Data Lens provides reporting capabilities for Nutanix Files and Objects, allowing administrators to schedule reports to run automatically, such as on Fridays at 7:00pm. When scheduling a report in Data Lens, the available output formats for the scheduled report are **CSV** and **PDF**. These formats are widely supported for data analysis (CSV) and presentation/sharing (PDF), making them suitable for automated reports.

The **Nutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA)** course states, “Nutanix Data Lens supports scheduling reports to run automatically, with output available in CSV and PDF formats, enabling administrators to analyze and share data efficiently.” CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is ideal for importing into spreadsheets or other data analysis tools, while PDF provides a formatted, human-readable document that can be easily shared with stakeholders.

The **Nutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US)** study guide further elaborates that “scheduled reports in Nutanix Data Lens can be generated in CSV and PDF formats, providing flexibility for both data analysis and reporting purposes.” The administrator can configure the report in Data Lens, set the schedule for Friday at 7:00pm, and select CSV, PDF, or both as the output formats for delivery (e.g., via email or download).

The other options are incorrect:

- **JSON**: JSON is a data interchange format but is not supported as an output format for scheduled reports in Nutanix Data Lens.

- **XML**: XML is another data format but is not supported for Data Lens scheduled reports, which are limited to CSV and PDF.

The NUSA course documentation emphasizes that “Data Lens scheduled reports can be generated in CSV and PDF formats, ensuring compatibility with various use cases for data analysis and presentation.”

The issue involves a user on an Ubuntu client (a Linux-based system) who is unable to create files on a Nutanix Files share configured to support both Windows and Linux clients. Since Ubuntu typically uses the NFS protocol to access file shares, the problem is likely related to the NFS configuration on the Nutanix Files share. The correct action is tomodify NFS Client Access to read-write, as the current setting may be restricting the Ubuntu client to read-only access.

TheNutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA)course explains that “Nutanix Files supports NFS for Linux clients, and administrators can configure NFS Client Access settings to control permissions, such as read-only or read-write access, for specific clients or subnets.” If the NFS Client Access is set to read-only for the Ubuntu client’s IP or subnet, the user would be able to read files but not create or modify them, which matches the described issue.

TheNutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US)study guide further states that “troubleshooting access issues for Linux clients on Nutanix Files often involves verifying the NFS Client Access settings, ensuring that the client has read-write permissions to create or modify files on NFS shares.” The administrator should check the NFS export settings for the share and update the client access rules to grant read-write permissions to the Ubuntu client’s IP address or subnet.

The other options are incorrect:

Allow simultaneous read access to same files: This setting is relevant for managing concurrent access to files (e.g., in SMB environments) but does not address the Ubuntu client’s inability to create files via NFS.

Update the blocked file types in the file server: Blocked file types prevent specific file extensions from being stored, but the issue is about creating files, not a specific file type being blocked.

Add NTFS permissions for the user account: NTFS permissions are relevant for SMB shares used by Windows clients, not for NFS shares accessed by Linux clients like Ubuntu.

The NUSA course documentation emphasizes that “for Linux clients experiencing permission issues on NFS shares, administrators should review and modify the NFS Client Access settings to ensure read-write permissions are granted, resolving issues like the inability to create files.”

The performance issue for the database VM is related to large block-size I/O operations over iSCSI, which connects to a Nutanix volume group. The VM has a dedicated NIC for iSCSI traffic, but a single NIC can become a bottleneck for large I/O operations, especially for a high-performance workload like a database. To improve performance, the administrator shouldadd an additional NIC for iSCSI connectivity and enable MPIO (Multipath I/O). This approach allows the VM to use multiple network paths for iSCSI traffic, increasing throughput and reducing latency for large block-size I/O operations.

TheNutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA)course states, “For high-performance workloads using Nutanix Volumes over iSCSI, enabling MPIO with multiple NICs on the VM can significantly improve I/O performance, especially for large block-size operations.” MPIO allows the VM to establish multiple iSCSI sessions to the Nutanix volume group, distributing I/O traffic across the available NICs and Controller Virtual Machines (CVMs) in the cluster. This is particularly effective for database workloads, which often involve large sequential I/O operations.

TheNutanix Certified Professional - Unified Storage (NCP-US)study guide further elaborates that “adding a second NIC for iSCSI traffic and configuring MPIO ensures load balancing and failover for iSCSI sessions, optimizing performance for VMs with high I/O demands, such as databases.” By adding another NIC, the VM can establish additional iSCSI paths to the volume group’s iSCSI Data Services IP (DSIP), leveraging the cluster’s distributed architecture to handle large block-size I/O more efficiently.

The other options are incorrect:

Add additional virtual disks to the volume group: Adding more virtual disks does not address the network bottleneck caused by a single iSCSI NIC and may not improve performance for large block-size I/O operations.

Increase the iSCSI adapter maximum transfer length: Adjusting the maximum transfer length (MTU) might help with network efficiency, but it does not address the fundamental issue of a single NIC being a bottleneck for large I/O operations. MPIO with multiple NICs is a more effective solution.

Locate the iSCSI NIC on the same VLAN as the cluster DSIP: While placing the iSCSI NIC on the same VLAN as the DSIP can reduce latency by avoiding inter-VLAN routing, the primary issue here is the single NIC bottleneck, not VLAN configuration. MPIO with multiple NICs provides a better performance improvement.

The NUSA course documentation emphasizes that “for VMs with large block-size I/O requirements, such as databases, using MPIO with multiple iSCSI NICs ensures optimal performance by distributing traffic across multiple paths to the Nutanix volume group.”

In Nutanix Files,File Analyticsprovides insights into how files are used over time to help with capacity planning and data lifecycle management. TheData Age widgetspecifically identifiescold data, which typically includes older, less frequently accessed files.

Thedefault cold data thresholdis:

“Files that have not been accessed forlonger than four weeksare considered cold data.”

This is aligned with best practices for identifying data that can be tiered to cheaper storage or archived to maintain performance and reduce costs.

The NUSA course materials emphasize:

“The default threshold for cold data classification in File Analytics isfour weeks. Administrators can customize this threshold to meet business or regulatory requirements.”

Thus,files not accessed for over four weeksare flagged ascoldby default in the Data Age widget.

According to the official Nutanix Unified Storage Administration (NUSA) course documentation, NFS-enabled buckets in Nutanix Objects support access via standard NFS clients, including the Windows NFS client. This compatibility allows Windows systems to interact with Objects buckets using the NFS protocol for read/write operations.

However, the following capabilities are not supported with NFS-enabled buckets due to inherent limitations in object storage semantics and NFS protocol constraints:

Rename directories (Option A): Renaming directories is unsupported because it requires atomic renaming of all objects under the directory prefix, which object storage does not allow.

Hard links (Option B): Hard links violate object storage immutability and are disallowed.

Symbolic links (Option D): Symbolic links are not supported, as they conflict with object storage's flat namespace design.