Free Nutanix NCP-CI-Azure Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

Outbound Communication Whitelisting:For NC2 Azure API calls and telemetry data to function correctly, certain outbound communications must be allowed. If these communications are not whitelisted, API calls can fail, and telemetry or health data might not be reported correctly.

First Check:Given the symptoms (failing API calls and missing telemetry), the first step should be to ensure that all necessary outbound communications are correctly whitelisted. This includes ensuring that endpoints and services required for NC2 operation are accessible.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Networking Requirements

Azure Networking and Security Configuration Guide

NAT Gateways:Necessary for providing outbound internet access to resources in the private subnet. It ensures that the virtual network can communicate with external services securely.

Delegated Subnets:Required for deploying specific Azure services within the virtual network, allowing controlled access and management of the resources within these subnets.

Flow Gateway Subnets:These subnets are used for managing traffic flow within the network, ensuring efficient routing and connectivity between different parts of the NC2 infrastructure.

VNet Peers:Establish connections between different virtual networks within Azure, enabling seamless communication and resource sharing across various parts of the NC2 deployment.

References:

Azure Virtual Network Documentation

Nutanix NC2 Networking Setup Guide

Log Modules in Prism Central:When configuring a syslog server, different log modules can be selected to send logs to an external syslog server for centralized logging and analysis.

Acropolis Logs:The Acropolis module captures logs related to the Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV), including virtual machine operations, storage operations, and other critical functions within the Nutanix environment.

References:

Nutanix Prism Central Administration Guide

Nutanix Acropolis Documentation

Flow Virtual Networking: Nutanix Flow Virtual Networking allows for the creation of overlay networks to segment and manage network traffic.

Network Types:

Underlay: Refers to the physical network infrastructure.

Overlay: Logical network built on top of the physical infrastructure, providing flexibility for creating isolated subnets and accommodating different workloads.

VPC: Virtual Private Cloud, a network within a public cloud provider.

VNET: Azure-specific virtual network.

Requirement: Creating a subnet for new workloads within Flow Virtual Networking suggests using an overlay network for logical separation and management.

Conclusion: An overlay network within Flow Virtual Networking will satisfy the task of accommodating a new type of workload in the NC2 Azure instance.

References:

Nutanix Flow Networking Guide

Azure Virtual Network Documentation

In this scenario, the issue arises from overlapping IP address ranges between the Transit VPC and the User VPC. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

Understanding ERPs (Elastic Routing Prefixes):

The ERP for the Transit VPC is 10.1.1.0/25, which covers IP addresses from 10.1.1.0 to 10.1.1.127.

The ERP for the User VPC is 10.1.1.0/24, which covers IP addresses from 10.1.1.0 to 10.1.1.255.

IP Address Overlap:

Since 10.1.1.0/25 is a subset of 10.1.1.0/24, there is a significant overlap in the IP address ranges of these two ERPs.

This overlap can cause routing issues because the same IP address range is being used in both VPCs, leading to ambiguity in routing and communication.

Communication Issue:

When a VM in the User VPC tries to communicate with other resources, the network cannot accurately determine the correct route due to the overlapping IP address ranges.

This overlap prevents proper routing and results in the VM being unable to communicate with other resources as intended.

Resolution:

To resolve this issue, the ERPs must be in different CIDR ranges. This means the IP address ranges for the Transit VPC and the User VPC should not overlap.

For example, if the Transit VPC uses 10.1.1.0/25, the User VPC could use a different range such as 10.1.2.0/24 or any other range that does not overlap with 10.1.1.0/25.

By ensuring that the ERPs are in different CIDR ranges, the network can properly route traffic between the VPCs without any conflicts or ambiguities, thereby enabling the VM in the User VPC to communicate with other resources effectively.

Scenario Analysis:

A. Connectivity between sites already provides encryption: Using VTEP in this scenario is advantageous because VTEP does not inherently provide encryption. If encryption is already provided, VTEP can be effectively used without additional security concerns.

D. Multiple remote Availability Zones exist to add to the same VTEP-based extended Layer 2 subnet: VTEP is well-suited for scenarios where multiple remote Availability Zones need to be connected to the same extended Layer 2 subnet. This allows for efficient management and seamless connectivity across different zones.

Scenarios B and C:

B. Only one remote Availability Zone exists that needs the subnet extended: This scenario does not leverage the strengths of VTEP, as it is better suited for multiple zones.

C. Connectivity between sites already does not provide encryption: Using VTEP without existing encryption is not ideal as VTEP itself does not encrypt the traffic.

Conclusion: VTEP is advantageous when encryption is already in place and when multiple remote zones need to be connected to the same extended subnet.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Networking Guide

Azure Networking Documentation

NC2 Console:The NC2 console is specifically designed for deploying and managing Nutanix clusters on Azure. It provides the necessary tools and interface to configure, monitor, and manage the NC2 clusters effectively.

Cluster Deployment:Using the NC2 console ensures that all configurations and integrations with Azure are correctly handled, providing a seamless deployment experience.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Deployment Guide

Nutanix Console Documentation

Replication Factor (RF3):RF3 requires that data is replicated across three different nodes to ensure data durability and fault tolerance. This replication scheme allows the system to tolerate the failure of two nodes simultaneously.

Minimum Node Requirement for RF3:To meet the RF3 requirements while maintaining operational capability, a minimum of five nodes is necessary. This configuration ensures that there are enough nodes to distribute the data and provide the necessary redundancy.

References:

Nutanix Replication Factor Documentation

Nutanix NC2 on Azure Deployment Guide

Minimum Node Requirement:For production deployments, Nutanix typically requires a minimum of three nodes to ensure high availability and fault tolerance within the cluster.

Azure Ready Nodes:Deploying at least three Azure Ready Nodes allows the cluster to provide redundancy, ensuring that the failure of a single node does not affect the overall availability and performance of the cluster.

References:

Nutanix NC2 on Azure Deployment Guide

High Availability and Redundancy Best Practices

ICMP Traffic:ICMP is essential for network diagnostics and troubleshooting, such as ping and traceroute, which help in monitoring the connectivity and health of the network.

Bi-Directional Traffic:Allowing bi-directional ICMP traffic ensures that all nodes (CVMs, Prism Element, and Prism Central) can both send and receive diagnostic messages, which is crucial for maintaining proper communication and network stability.

References:

Nutanix Networking and Connectivity Requirements

Corporate Firewall Configuration Guidelines