V1.

0 | SEPTEMBER 2022
UNIVERSITY

EXAM BLUEPRINT

Nutanix Certified Associate

(NCA) 6.5 Exam
Author:
Jeff Hall – Manager, Technical Certification Development
Jon C. Hall - Director, Technical Certifications

Contributors:
Maroane Boutayeb, System Engineer
Todd Burris, Systems Engineer
John Burton, Sr. Staff System Reliability Engineer
Cliff Butler, Lab Manager
Samuele Cerutti - Sr. Partner & OEM Systems Engineer Nutanix Italia
Oscar Chacon, Engineering Sales Specialist
Jim Corder, Instructor/Consultant
Kenneth Fingerlos, Director, Global Practices - Services
Matthew Gauch, Sr. Staff System Reliability Engineer
Lev Goronshtein, Systems Architect
Brad Gough, Systems Architect
Ross Hunt - Lead Infrastructure Development Engineer
Ed Keiper, Cloud Architect
Manish Kumar, IT Manager
Stephen Linker, Systems Administrator
Christian Marrero, Inside Systems Engineer, Portfolio Specialist
Paul Monroe, Sr. System Reliability Engineer
Keith Olsen – Systems Architect
Farhan Parkar - Platform Solution Specialist
Andrei Patergin, CTO
Drew Plaster, Sr. Network Systems Administrator
Gary Schwankl, IT Administrator
Rickard Wendel, Sr. Systems Engineer

Disclaimer:
The Nutanix Certified Associate (NCA) 6.5 Exam Blueprint Guide provides an overview
of the objectives that must be mastered to achieve the NCA credential. Nutanix does not
offer any guarantees that this guide will ensure a candidate’s success in achieving the
NCA Certification. All information in this guide is subject to change at any time at the
sole discretion of Nutanix.

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1. THE EXAM........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4
1.1. Purpose of Exam.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2. Number of Questions.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.3. Pricing............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1.4. Passing Score...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.5. How Objectives Relate to Questions on the Exam................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.6. Languages.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.7. Time Limit....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.8. Scheduling and Taking the Exam..........................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.9. Certification Tracks......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.10. Retake Policy......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.11. Exam Security......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.12. Recertification................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
1.13. Benefits of Certification..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

2. INTENDED AUDIENCE...................................................................................................................................................................................................................7
2.1. Intended Audience....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

3. OBJECTIVES COVERED IN THE NCA 6.5 EXAM...................................................8

3.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
3.2. Objectives.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8

4. THE NUTANIX ADMINISTRATION TRACK AND

COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS.........................................................................................17
4.1. Nutanix Administration Track....................................................................................................................................................................................................................17
4.2. Course Recommendations......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

5. RESOURCES.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
5.1. Nutanix Community Edition....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
5.2. The Nutanix Next Community............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
5.3. Test Drive................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 19
1.The Exam
1.1 PURPOSE OF EXAM
The Nutanix Certified Associate (NCA) 6.5 exam tests candidates on their skills and
abilities to navigate the Prism UI, extrapolate information from the UI, and know how to
use the UI for basic operational tasks. Successful candidates demonstrate mastery of
these skills and abilities.

1.2 NUMBER OF QUESTIONS

The NCA 6.5 exam consists of 50 multiple choice and multiple response questions.

1.3 PRICING
The cost for the NCA 6.5 exam is $99 USD.

1.4 PASSING SCORE

The passing score for this exam is 3000, using a scaled scoring method. The scale is from
1000-6000. Scaled scores are calculated using a mathematical formula that considers a
variety of factors, including the number and type of exam questions included in a specific
version of the exam.

Because this combination may vary in different versions of the same examination, scaled
scores provide a fair score for everyone based on the version of the exam taken.

1.5 HOW OBJECTIVES RELATE TO

QUESTIONS ON THE EXAM
Objectives summarize what the test is designed to measure. Objectives are developed by
Exam Developers and Subject Matter Experts based on identified tasks that relate to the
job of navigating the Prism UI, extrapolating information from the UI, and knowing how to
use the UI for basic operational tasks.

Once the initial development process is complete, these objectives are verified using an
external group of individuals in the actual job role. Finally, a number of questions is determined
for each objective, which relates directly to the criticality of the task in the job role.

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1.6 LANGUAGES
The exam is available in English and Japanese.

1.7 TIME LIMIT

The time limit for the exam is 90 minutes.

1.8 SCHEDULING AND TAKING THE EXAM

This exam is delivered via remote proctoring in your home or office, or at a designated
testing center. Occasionally, testing at Nutanix events may also be offered. At the start of
the registration process, you will be asked to choose remote or in person testing. After
registering for the exam, you will receive further information specific to the testing method
you chose. Regardless of whether you test remotely or in person, you must provide valid
identification and will be provided with a monitored and secure exam experience.

1.9 CERTIFICATION TRACKS

The NCA 6.5 exam is a core component of the Nutanix Associate track.

The certification requires a passing score on the exam. While it is not required that you
attend a course, Nutanix provides training that covers the objectives on the exam. Details
on the course and track are provided in section 4.

1.10 RETAKE POLICY

If a candidate fails an exam on the first attempt, he or she is allowed two additional
attempts. There is a seven-day waiting period between attempts. Like the first attempt,
these are paid for individually and Nutanix recommends that you allow sufficient time
between attempts to be properly prepared and to maximize your chances for success.

Please note: After three attempts, you will be unable to take the exam for 60 days, after
which you can e-mail university@nutanix.com and request that your attempts are reset.
Nutanix recommends you utilize the time to thoroughly review this guide and the related
references and/or take the recommended training for this exam.

1.11 EXAM SECURITY

Nutanix reserves the right to refuse certifying a candidate who violates exam security
policies. This includes copying and redistribution of exam material, using any type of
study material during the exam itself, attempting to photograph exam items and taking
an exam using a false identity. Your identity is captured as part of the exam registration
process and must be validated before you will be allowed to take the exam.

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1.12 RECERTIFICATION
Once you have passed the NCA 6.5 exam and achieved the NCA 6 certification, it will
remain valid until Nutanix releases the next version of the certification. At that time, you
have one year to upgrade your certification to the new release before it expires. Nutanix
provides a delta training covering features that are part of the AOS release that coin-
cides with the new version of the certification.

1.13 BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION

• Digital badge from Credly that you can share on social media

• Points on Nutanix Xtribe that you can redeem for prizes (not available for
Nutanix employees)

• Access to the Certification store at http://store.nutanix.com for shirts, mugs, and more

• Opportunity to participate as a SME to develop future exams

• Discount on attending Nutanix .NEXT

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2. Intended Audience
A candidate for the NCA 6.5 certification has approximately 6- 12 months of holistic IT
infrastructure experience as well as 3-6 months of experience of Nutanix virtualization
experience. They are typically a systems administrator, junior engineer or IT operator and
should be able to navigate and identify components within the Prism UI; perform life
cycle management tasks of VMs and clusters; and monitor and report on performance,
events, and alerts. The successful candidate will most likely have taken training courses
such as the Nutanix Hybrid Cloud Fundamentals course.

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3. Objectives covered
in the NCA 6.5 Exam
3.1 INTRODUCTION
It is recommended that candidates have the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate
and identify components within the Prism UI; perform life cycle management tasks of
VMs and clusters; and monitor and report on performance, events, and alerts before
attempting the NCA 6.5 exam.

3.2 OBJECTIVES
Prior to taking this exam, candidates should understand each of the following objectives.
Each objective is listed below; along with related tools the candidate should have experience
with, and related documentation that contains information relevant to the objective.
Please note that some documentation requires access via the Support Portal. Information
on creating an account for use with the Support Portal can be found here.

All objectives may also be referenced in other product documentation not specifically
highlighted below. The candidate should be familiar with all relevant product
documentation or have the equivalent skills.

SECTION 1 – DESCRIBE LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

Objective 1.1 – Describe Life Cycle Management (LCM)
Knowledge:
• Describe how to verify if alerts are present
• Identify which updates are available
• Identify differences in using LCM in Prism Central and Prism Element
• Describe the LCM Inventory process

References
• Life Cycle Manager
• Updating the LCM Framework Using a Web Server
• Direct Upload

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Objective 1.2 – Identify and monitor LCM software and firmware
Knowledge:
• Describe how to ensure nodes are not in maintenance mode
• Identify which tasks are running
• Describe the LCM workflow

References
• Prepare to Upgrade Your Cluster
• Recommended Upgrade Order
• Performing Updates with the Life Cycle Manager
• The Redfish Protocol and LCM

SECTION 2 – DESCRIBE NUTANIX FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Objective 2.1 – Describe how to access Prism Central and Prism Element
Knowledge:
• Recall proper access URL format
• Recall proper login format
• Identify which access ports are used

References
• Logging Into the Web Console
• Prism Central Overview
• Configuring Authentication in Prism Element
• Configuring Authentication in Prism Central
• Port Reference – AHV
• Port Reference – AOS
• Port Reference – Prism Central
• Prism Central Main Menu
• Prism Central Main Dashboard Display

Objective 2.2 – Identify differences between Prism Central and Prism Element
Knowledge:
• Identify capabilities and information types of each User Interface (UI)
• Describe administrative task differences between Prism Central and Prism Element

References
• Controlling User Access (RBAC)
• Prism Central Services Enablement

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• Prism Web Console Overview
• Prism Central Installing or Upgrading
• Identifying inefficient VMs in Prism Central

Objective 2.3 – Describe components of a Nutanix cluster

Knowledge:
• Identify components and configuration elements, such as:
› Node
› Block
› Cluster
› Hypervisor
› Controller VM (CVM)
› Storage tier
› Storage pool
› Container
› vDisk
› Virtual IP (VIP)
› Data Services IP (DSIP)
› IPMI
• Identify Nutanix cluster concepts, such as:
› Single node vs dual node
› ROBO basics
› Compute node vs Storage-only node

References
• Introduction to AOS
• Acropolis Key Components
• Adding an ISCSI Data Services IP Address (Cluster Details)
• Remote Console IP Address Configuration
• Nutanix AOS Architecture
• Data Resiliency Levels for Rack Fault Tolerance
• Single-Node Clusters
• Two-Node Clusters
• Purpose of the Controller VM

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Objective 2.4 – Define Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI)
Knowledge
• Identify differences between Nutanix HCI and legacy three-tier architecture
• Describe AOS purpose and functionality

References
• What is Hyperconverged Infrastructure?
• Nutanix Bible – 3-Tier versus HCI
• Introduction to AOS
• Distributed Storage Fabric
• Cluster Expansion Prerequisites and Requirements
• Nutanix Cluster Product Mixing Restrictions

SECTION 3 – EXPLAIN CLUSTER ALERTS AND MONITORING ADMINISTRATION

Objective 3.1 – Interpret alerts and events
Knowledge
• Describe failure behavior of nodes, CVMs, and disk drives
• Recognize Acropolis responses to failure
• Identify failures in Prism Central and Prism Element
• Recall how a Nutanix cluster responds to scenarios, such as:
› Node failure
› Network failure between nodes
› Disk failure
• Distinguish alert severity
• Utilize chart information to interpret and export information
• View alerts and events

References
• Node Failures
• Host Failures
• Drive Failures
• Network Link Failures
• Prism Central Alert and Event Monitoring
• Cluster Alert/Health Check messages
• Guest VM Data Management
• Expanding a Cluster
• Metadata Drive Failure
• Prism Central Audits Summary View
• Prism Element Alerts Summary View
• Prism Central Analysis Dashboard
• VM High Availability

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Objective 3.2 – Interpret cluster health
Knowledge
• Interpret cluster status
• Interpret elements of the Health Dashboard
• Run health checks with the Prism Web Console
• Perform log collection
• Review data resiliency status

References
• Health Dashboard
• Health Monitoring
• Configuring Health Checks
• Running NCC Checks by Using Web Console
• Collecting Logs by Using Web Console
• Configuring NCC Frequency
• NCC Health Check: auto_support_check
• Controller VM Failure
• Collecting NCC Output from a Nutanix Cluster

Objective 3.3 – Describe the benefits of Pulse

Knowledge
• Verify the Pulse status
• Recognize when to disable Pulse
• Describe the Pulse Connection Status when Pulse is disabled
• Describe how to collect logs with Prism Central and Prism Element when
Pulse is disabled

References
• Configuring Pulse
• Pulse Health Monitoring
• Pulse Access Requirements
• Data Obfuscation
• Log Collection

Objective 3.4 – Describe interaction with the Support Portal

Knowledge
• Describe how to create a support case
• Identify documentation types

References
• Support Portal Insight Discovery Overview and Troubleshooting
• Compatibility and Interoperability Matrix

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• Customer Support Services
• Register for my.nutanix.com and Support Portal Access
• Accessing the Nutanix Support Portal in Prism Central
• Support Portal Field Advisories Page
• Support Portal Discoveries Menu

Objective 3.5 – Differentiate between VM, node, and cluster performance metrics
Knowledge
• Describe how to navigate the Analysis Dashboard
• Determine differences between metric and entity charts

References
• Behavioral Learning Tools
• Prism Web Console VM Table View
• Prism Central Analysis Dashboard
• Prism Web Console Analysis Dashboard
• Prism Central Reports Management
• Prism Central VM Details View
• Searching for Information in Prism Central
• Creating a Metric Chart
• Creating an Entity Chart
• Chart Metrics

SECTION 4 – DESCRIBE STORAGE CONCEPTS

Objective 4.1 – Describe Nutanix storage architecture and features
Knowledge
• Identify storage components, such as Storage Tiers, Containers, Volume Groups,
and vDisks
• Identify storage optimization features, such as compression types, deduplication,
and inline vs post process erasure coding
• Describe snapshots

References
• Nutanix Cluster Components
• Curator Service
• Compression
• Deduplication
• Erasure Coding
• Nutanix Bible - Files
• Nutanix Bible - Volumes
• Nutanix Bible – Objects

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• Single vDisk Sharding
• Virtual Machine Snapshots

Objective 4.2 – Differentiate replication and redundancy factors

Knowledge
• Identify number of data copies
• Identify requirements to enable different replication and redundancy factors
• Describe replication and redundancy factors
• Describe how redundancy factor relates to the fault tolerance level
• Describe differences between metadata copies and data copies
• Identify number of simultaneous failures supported
• Recognize how redundancy is related to node count in a cluster

References
• Replication Factor 1
• Redundancy Factor 3
• Resilient Capacity
• Tech TopX Video: Redundancy Factor vs. Replication Factor
• Increasing the Cluster Fault Tolerance Level

SECTION 5 – EXPLAIN VIRTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE ADMINISTRATION

Objective 5.1 – Identify VM, network, and node configuration
Knowledge
• Identify VM configuration details
• Identify network types, such as the difference between managed
and unmanaged networks
• Interpret network visualization details
• Identify disk drives and disk drive details, such as capacity, storage tier,
physical vs logical characteristics, and mode
• Identify node details
• Describe VM placement policies, such as affinity vs anti-affinity rules,
storage performance, and compute utilization

References
• Flash Mode for Virtual Machines, Disks, and Volume Groups
• IP Address Management
• AHV Networking Recommendations
• Network Visualization

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• Network Configuration for VM Interfaces
• Nutanix Bible – Node Architecture
• Compute-Only Node Configuration (AHV Only)
• Storage-Only Node Configuration
• Acropolis Dynamic Scheduling in AHV
• Enabling LAG and LACP on the ToR Switch (AHV Only)
• Recycle Bin
• Securing Traffic Through Network Segmentation
• Affinity Policies for AHV
• Affinity Policies Defined in Prism Element

Objective 5.2 – Describe the image service

Knowledge
• Describe how to import images into Prism Central and Prism Element
• Identify requirements and limitations of the image service
• Describe placement policies when using the image service

References
• Importing Images to Prism Central
• Image Service Requirements
• Image Service Limitations
• Image Configuration Workflow
• Configuring Images
• Configuring an Image Placement Policy
• Updating an Image Placement Policy
• How Prism Central Handles Conflicting Image Placement Policies
• Sample Image Placement Scenarios and Configurations

Objective 5.3 – Explain VM operations

Knowledge
• Describe how to create, modify, and delete VMs, including how to deploy
VMs from a template
• Differentiate different VM power states
• Explain how to assign categories to VMs
• Summarize VM details, such as the number of cores, memory,
storage containers, host placement, and I/O metrics

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References
• Create a VM (AHV)
• Managing a VM (AHV)
• Performing Power Operations on VMs
• Nutanix Guest Tools Requirements and Limitations
• Managing NGT Applications
• Manual Recovery of Guest VMs
• Creating a Category
• Assigning a Category

SECTION 6 – DESCRIBE NUTANIX SOLUTIONS

Objective 6.1 – Describe Nutanix architectural concepts
Knowledge
• Explain the Nutanix self-healing architecture
• Describe the Replication Factor (RF) architecture
• Describe the Nutanix Multicloud Acropolis Operating System

References
• Nutanix AOS Architecture
• Nutanix Platform Overview
• Nutanix Cluster Components
• Nutanix Infrastructure
• Nutanix Disk Self-Healing
• Redundancy Factor 3
• Introduction to AOS
• Nutanix Bible - Book of AOS

Objective 6.2 – Identify Nutanix products by use case

Knowledge
• Identify use cases for Nutanix products (i.e. Flow, Calm, Move, etc.)

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4. The Nutanix
Administration Track
and Course
Recommendations

4.1 NUTANIX ADMINISTRATION TRACK

It is recommended that candidates have the knowledge and skills necessary to operate
and manage Nutanix environment.

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4.2 COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS
Nutanix offers a course that provides training on the objectives tested in the exam.
More information on this course, including delivery methods and pricing, can be found at
nutanix.com/training. The details are as follows:

Nutanix Hybrid Cloud Fundamentals Training Course

This course will introduce you to the products, capabilities, and technologies that form
the foundation of Nutanix’s Hybrid Cloud solution. You will begin by exploring the concept
of Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI), briefly discuss Nutanix cloud solution packages,
and introduce Prism Central and Prism Element.

Then, you will delve deeper into essential Nutanix hardware and software components,
various types of clusters, AOS Distributed Storage, and various storage optimization
techniques that are available for use. Next, you will explore Nutanix networking concepts
and learn about network types and how to monitor networks using Prism Central and
Prism Element.

You will next be introduced to the Image Service, which is available in both Prism Central
and Prism Element. In this section, you will learn what an image is, what the image service
is, and how to upload and manage image files. You will also learn about VM management,
including how to create and manage VMs using VM dashboards; VM-specific metrics;
and alerts and event messages.

In addition to monitoring VMs, you will also learn how to properly monitor the health and
performance of Nutanix clusters. You will accomplish this by completing various tasks,
such as describing and creating custom charts and reports; navigating and using the
Health dashboard to view and run health checks, using the Alerts and Events dashboards,
describing different documentation types, creating support cases, and using the Nutanix
Insights capability.

Finally, you will learn about the Nutanix Life Cycle Manager (LCM), which is available in
both Prism Central and Prism Element. In this module, you learn what LCM is, be able to
explain the LCM workflow, navigate and use the LCM dashboard, describe the upgrade
prerequisites, and perform an LCM Inventory.

The material provided in the course covers a majority of the objectives that appear on
the NCA 6.5 exam and is recommended for individuals who want to gain a good
understanding of these objectives. Please note that additional exposure to a Nutanix
environment is highly recommended.

This course will available online or instructor-led (in-person or virtual) before the live
exam is launched. More information including schedules and how to register can be
found at www.nutanix.com/university.

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5. Resources
5.1 NUTANIX COMMUNITY EDITION
The Nutanix Community Edition is a free product that allows you to deploy a Nutanix
Enterprise Cloud. To download the software and build your own environment for exam
preparation, click here.

5.2 THE NUTANIX NEXT COMMUNITY

The Nutanix Next Community is a social interaction site where professionals can connect
with cloud builders from around the world, learn from IT Pros in the industry and share
experiences. The community maintains an area focused on the NCA certification, which
is located here.

5.3 TEST DRIVE

Build your clouds your way in a few clicks and instantly complete all your IT tasks on a
unified cloud platform with Test Drive. Click here to take a Test Drive today.

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and consumer-grade design to natively converge compute,
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solution with rich machine intelligence. The result is predictable
performance, cloud-like infrastructure consumption, robust
security, and seamless application mobility for a broad range
of enterprise applications. Learn more at www.nutanix.com
or follow us on Twitter @nutanix.

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