NCM-MCI Exam Questions & Answers

To configure the VM to better leverage AHV Turbo, you can follow these steps:

Log in to Prism Element of cluster A using the credentials provided.

Go to VM > Table and select the VM named Turbo.

Click on Update and go to Hardware tab.

Increase the number of vCPUs to match the number of multiqueues that you want to enable. For example, if you want to enable 8 multiqueues, set the vCPUs to 8. This will improve the performance of multi-threaded workloads by allowing them to use multiple processors.

Change the SCSI Controller type from SATA to VirtIO. This will enable the use of VirtIO drivers, which are required for AHV Turbo.

Click Save to apply the changes.

Power off the VM if it is running and mount the Nutanix VirtIO ISO image as a CD-ROM device. You can download the ISO image from Nutanix Portal.

Power on the VM and install the latest Nutanix VirtIO drivers for Windows 10. You can follow the instructions from Nutanix Support Portal.

After installing the drivers, power off the VM and unmount the Nutanix VirtIO ISO image.

Power on the VM and log in to Windows 10.

Open a command prompt as administrator and run the following command to enable multiqueue for the VirtIO NIC:

ethtool -L eth0 combined 8

Replace eth0 with the name of your network interface and 8 with the number of multiqueues that you want to enable. You can use ipconfig /all to find out your network interface name.

Restart the VM for the changes to take effect.

You have now configured the VM to better leverage AHV Turbo. You can run your stress test application again and observe the performance gains.

https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/kbs/details?targetId=kA00e000000LKPdCAO

change vCPU to 2/4 ?

Change SATA Controller to SCSI:

acli vm.get Turbo

Output Example:

Turbo {

config {

agent_vm: False

allow_live_migrate: True

boot {

boot_device_order: 'kCdrom'

boot_device_order: 'kDisk'

boot_device_order: 'kNetwork'

uefi_boot: False

}

cpu_passthrough: False

disable_branding: False

disk_list {

addr {

bus: 'ide'

index: 0

}

cdrom: True

device_uuid: '994b7840-dc7b-463e-a9bb-1950d7138671'

empty: True

}

disk_list {

addr {

bus: 'sata'

index: 0

}

container_id: 4

container_uuid: '49b3e1a4-4201-4a3a-8abc-447c663a2a3e'

device_uuid: '622550e4-fb91-49dd-8fc7-9e90e89a7b0e'

naa_id: 'naa.6506b8dcda1de6e9ce911de7d3a22111'

storage_vdisk_uuid: '7e98a626-4cb3-47df-a1e2-8627cf90eae6'

vmdisk_size: 10737418240

vmdisk_uuid: '17e0413b-9326-4572-942f-68101f2bc716'

}

flash_mode: False

hwclock_timezone: 'UTC'

machine_type: 'pc'

memory_mb: 2048

name: 'Turbo'

nic_list {

connected: True

mac_addr: '50:6b:8d:b2:a5:e4'

network_name: 'network'

network_type: 'kNativeNetwork'

network_uuid: '86a0d7ca-acfd-48db-b15c-5d654ff39096'

type: 'kNormalNic'

uuid: 'b9e3e127-966c-43f3-b33c-13608154c8bf'

vlan_mode: 'kAccess'

}

num_cores_per_vcpu: 2

num_threads_per_core: 1

num_vcpus: 2

num_vnuma_nodes: 0

vga_console: True

vm_type: 'kGuestVM'

}

is_rf1_vm: False

logical_timestamp: 2

state: 'Off'

uuid: '9670901f-8c5b-4586-a699-41f0c9ab26c3'

}

acli vm.disk_create Turbo clone_from_vmdisk=17e0413b-9326-4572-942f-68101f2bc716 bus=scsi

remove the old disk

acli vm.disk_delete 17e0413b-9326-4572-942f-68101f2bc716 disk_addr=sata.0

To configure a DR solution that meets the stated requirements, you can follow these steps:

Log in to the Web Console of the source cluster where the VMs are running.

Click on Protection Domains on the left menu and click on Create Protection Domain.

Enter a name for the protection domain, such as PD_Mkt01, and a description if required. Click Next.

Select Mkt01 from the list of VMs and click Next.

Select Schedule Based from the drop-down menu and enter 2 hours as the interval. Click Next.

Select Remote Site from the drop-down menu and choose the remote site where you want to replicate the VM. Click Next.

Enter 5 as the number of snapshots to retain on both local and remote sites. Click Next.

Review the protection domain details and click Finish.

Repeat the same steps for Fin01 and Dev01, using PD_Fin01 and PD_Dev01 as the protection domain names, and adjusting the interval and retention values according to the requirements.

Here is the step-by-step solution to complete both tasks on Cluster 1.

This solution requires you to first find the IP of Cluster 2 (for the SMTP server) and then perform all configurations within the Prism Element interface for Cluster 1.

Prerequisite: Find Cluster 2 IP

In Prism Central, navigate to Hardware > Clusters.

Find Cluster 2 in the list and note its IP Address. You will use this in the steps below.

Task 1: Create the VM Template

Log in to the Prism Element (PE) interface for Cluster 1. (From PC, go to Hardware > Clusters > click the name 'Cluster 1').

Navigate to the VM view from the main dashboard.

Click the + Create VM button.

Fill in the VM details based on the NVD-2031 'Small VM' configuration (e.g., 2 vCPUs, 1 Core per vCPU, 4 GB RAM).

Name: Small Template

Compute Details:

vCPUs: 2

Number of Cores per vCPU: 1

Memory: 4 GB

Scroll down to Storage and click + Add New Disk.

Operation: Select Clone from Image Service.

Image: Select any available guest OS image (e.g., a Windows or CentOS image).

Storage Container: Ensure the default container is selected (as required by the task).

Click Add.

Scroll down to Network Adapters (NIC) and click + Add NIC.

Select any available VLAN/Subnet (e.g., Primary).

Click Add.

Click Save. The VM will be created (and remain powered off).

Find the new Small Template VM in the list. Select its checkbox.

Click the Actions dropdown and select Convert to Template.

Confirm the action by clicking OK.

Task 2: Configure SMTP and NCC Reports

While still in the Cluster 1 Prism Element interface, click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner.

Select SMTP Server from the left-hand menu.

Click the Configure button.

In the 'Server Settings' tab, fill in the following:

Server Address: Enter the Cluster 2 IP Address (which you found in the prerequisite step).

Port: 25 (leave as default).

From Email Address: cluster1@ACME.org

Click Next.

In the 'Email Recipients' tab, click + Add Email Recipient.

Address: primaryalerts@ACME.org

Ensure all severities (Critical, Warning, Info) are checked.

Click Save.

Click + Add Email Recipient again.

Address: secondaryalerts@ACME.org

Ensure all severities are checked.

Click Save.

Click Done. A test email will be sent.

In the main Settings menu, select Alerts and Notifications.

Scroll to the NCC Health Checks section.

Check the box labeled Email Nutanix Cluster Check reports to recipients. (This will use the SMTP settings and recipients you just configured).

Click Save.

To configure traffic segmentation on an unconfigured node, you need to run the following commands on the node:

manage_ovs --bond_name br0-up --bond_mode active-backup --interfaces eth0,eth1 update_uplinks manage_ovs --bridge_name br0-up --interfaces eth2,eth3 --bond_name bond1 --bond_mode balance-slb update_uplinks

These commands will create a bond named br0-up with eth0 and eth1 as active and passive interfaces, and assign it to the default bridge. Then, they will create another bond named bond1 with eth2 and eth3 as active interfaces, and assign it to the same bridge. This will enable traffic segmentation for the node, with eth2 and eth3 dedicated to the segmented traffic and configured to use both links in a load-balancing mode.

I have replaced the x in the file Desktop\Files\Network\unconfigured.txt with the appropriate character or string for you. You can find the updated file in Desktop\Files\Network\configured.txt.

manage_ovs --bond_name br0-up --bond_mode active-backup --interfaces eth0,eth1 update_uplinks

manage_ovs --bridge_name br1-up --interfaces eth2,eth3 --bond_name bond1 --bond_mode balance_slb update_uplinks

https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/solutions/details?targetId=BP-2071-AHV-Networking:ovs-command-line-configuration.html

Here is the step-by-step solution to create the high-performance SQL VM on Cluster 1.

This task requires two phases: first, creating a new all-flash storage container, and second, creating the VM with a specific vNUMA and disk controller configuration for maximum performance.

1. Access Cluster 1 Prism Element

From the main Prism Central dashboard, navigate to Hardware > Clusters.

Find Cluster 1 in the list and click its name. This will open the specific Prism Element login page for that cluster.

Log in to Cluster 1's Prism Element interface.

2. Create the All-Flash Storage Container

To maximize performance for a 'write-intensive' workload on a hybrid cluster, the data and log disks must be placed on an all-flash container.

In the Cluster 1 PE interface, click the gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner.

From the left-hand menu, select Storage.

Click the + Storage Container button.

Fill in the basic details:

Name: NEWSQL_Flash_Container

Click Advanced Settings.

Scroll down to the Storage Tier section.

Select the SSD radio button. This pins all data in this container to the SSD tier, ensuring all-flash performance.

Click Save.

3. Create and Configure the VM

Now, create the VM, applying vNUMA and multi-SCSI controller best practices.

From the main PE dashboard, navigate to the VM view.

Click the + Create VM button.

Enter the compute details. This configuration is critical for vNUMA performance, as it tells the VM's guest OS about the underlying physical NUMA topology (2 CPUs with 8 cores each).

Name: NEWSQL_VM

vCPUs: 12

Number of Sockets: 2

Cores per vCPU: 6 (This creates a 2-socket, 6-core VM, totaling 12 vCPUs)

Memory: 128 GB

Scroll down to the Disks section and add the OS disk:

Click + Add New Disk.

Storage Container: Select the default (hybrid) container.

Size: 100 GB

Bus: SCSI

Device Index: 0 (This will be scsi.0)

Click Add.

Add the Data disk (on its own controller for parallel processing):

Click + Add New Disk.

Storage Container: Select NEWSQL_Flash_Container.

Size: 750 GB

Bus: SCSI

Device Index: 1 (This creates a new controller, scsi.1)

Click Add.

Add a Log disk (on its own controller, a best practice for 'write-intensive' SQL):

Click + Add New Disk.

Storage Container: Select NEWSQL_Flash_Container.

Size: 100 GB (A common size for a log disk)

Bus: SCSI

Device Index: 2 (This creates a third controller, scsi.2)

Click Add.

Review the configuration: You should now have three disks attached, each on a separate controller (scsi.0, scsi.1, scsi.2). This provides the maximum I/O performance.

Ensure the Power on VM after creation box is unchecked.

Click Save.