NCP-CI-Azure Nutanix Certified Professional - Cloud Integration - Azure (NCP-CI-Azure v6.7) Questions and Answers

Check the list of regions specified under the NC2 organization cloud account:The list of available regions in the NC2 console might be restricted based on the configuration of the cloud account associated with the NC2 organization. Verifying this list ensures that the desired region is included and available for cluster creation.

Ensure that the Azure region is whitelisted for use by Microsoft in the subscription:Sometimes, specific regions need to be explicitly enabled or whitelisted in the Azure subscription for certain services. This step ensures that the required region is permitted for use within the Azure subscription, allowing the NC2 cluster to be created in that region.

References:

Azure Subscription and Service Limits Documentation

Nutanix NC2 Configuration and Setup Guide

When the administrator notices that the VMs cannot reach resources outside the network, even by IP address, it is likely that a default route was not configured for the external subnet. The default route is essential for directing traffic from the VMs to external networks. Without it, the VMs will not know how to route traffic to external destinations, which leads to connectivity issues.

References

Azure Virtual Network Documentation

Nutanix Flow Networking Best Practices

Role Requirements: The task involves creating and managing multiple organizations and clusters, along with managing user access across the company.

Role Capabilities: The "Customer Administrator" role is designed to provide extensive administrative capabilities, including:

Creating and managing organizations.

Managing clusters.

Handling user access and permissions.

Comparison of Roles:

Cluster Administrator: Primarily focuses on managing individual clusters but does not encompass organization-wide administrative tasks.

Customer Security Administrator: Focuses on security-related tasks and does not have broad administrative capabilities across organizations and clusters.

Organization Administrator: Manages organizational settings but might not cover all aspects needed for multiple clusters and user access management.

Conclusion: The "Customer Administrator" role meets all the requirements for managing organizations, clusters, and user access comprehensively.

References:

Nutanix Role-Based Access Control Documentation

NC2 on Azure User Roles Guide

Floating IP Address Limitation:The cluster already has 25 floating IP addresses in use by other VMs. If the administrator cannot assign a floating IP address to the new VM, it is because the pool of available floating IPs is exhausted.

Requesting Additional Floating IPs:To resolve this issue, the administrator needs to request additional floating IP addresses to be allocated to the NAT subnet. This will ensure that there are enough IP addresses available for all VMs requiring inbound connectivity.

References:

Nutanix Networking Configuration Guide

Azure IP Address Management Documentation

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

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

Storage Capacity Requirement: The requirement specifies that the bare metal instance must support up to 20 TB of storage capacity.

Instance Selection: Among the provided options, the AN36P instance is designed to support higher storage capacities and performance needs.

AN36P Capabilities: The AN36P instance is optimized for storage-intensive applications and provides the necessary hardware specifications to handle up to 20 TB of storage.

Comparison with Other Instances:

ND96asr: Typically optimized for GPU workloads rather than storage.

AN36: May not meet the 20 TB storage requirement.

HB176rs: Geared towards high-performance computing rather than large storage capacities.

Conclusion: Based on the requirements and instance specifications, AN36P is the most suitable choice for supporting up to 20 TB of storage.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Instance Types

Azure Virtual Machine Sizes

Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) Routing:ECMP allows multiple gateways to be used simultaneously for load balancing traffic across multiple paths. In this scenario, ECMP is configured to point to the external subnets in the Nutanix Transit VPC.

Traffic Distribution:All four Flow Gateway instances will be used to distribute the outgoing traffic from the application server based on the ECMP default route configuration. This ensures efficient load balancing and utilization of all available gateway resources.

Bidirectional Traffic:Both sending and receiving traffic will utilize all four Flow Gateway instances, ensuring high availability and performance for network-intensive applications.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Networking Guide

Azure Networking Documentation on ECMP

Initial Access: To gain access to the NC2 console, users need to create an account on the Nutanix platform.

My Nutanix Account: Creating a My Nutanix account provides access to the Nutanix console, support, and other resources.

Free Trial and Billing Portal: Starting a free trial or accessing the billing portal can be subsequent steps but require an initial account.

Support Case: Opening a support case is not necessary for initial access but might be needed for specific issues later.

Conclusion: Creating a My Nutanix account is the first step to accessing the NC2 console and other Nutanix services.

References:

Nutanix Account Creation Guide

Getting Started with Nutanix NC2

Flow Gateway VMs: Flow Gateway VMs are used to manage and route network traffic within an NC2 on Azure cluster, ensuring sufficient bandwidth for workloads.

Scalability: To ensure enough available bandwidth, multiple Flow Gateway VMs can be deployed.

Maximum Limit: The highest number of Flow Gateway VMs that can be deployed within an NC2 on Azure environment is 6, providing the necessary capacity to handle high traffic volumes and ensure optimal performance.

Conclusion: Deploying up to 6 Flow Gateway VMs ensures adequate bandwidth for NC2 workloads.

References:

Nutanix Clusters Networking Guide

Azure Network Performance Documentation

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

ERP Configuration: ERP (External Route Prefix) settings determine how traffic is routed between subnets and VPCs.

Objective: The goal is to isolate Darren-Tier3 while ensuring proper routing for Tier1 and Tier2.

Transit VPC ERP: Setting it to 10.0.0.0/16 ensures that it covers the entire VPC range, allowing traffic within Tier1 and Tier2.

Servers ERP: Setting it to 10.0.4.0/24 ensures isolation for Darren-Tier3 by limiting traffic to that specific subnet and preventing external traffic from reaching it.

Conclusion: This configuration achieves the isolation of Darren-Tier3 while allowing proper routing for Tier1 and Tier2.

References:

Nutanix Networking Documentation

Azure Virtual Network Documentation

In the NC2 on Azure cluster scenario, the existing workloads were using floating IPs for inbound traffic before the addition of new Flow Gateways (FGW3 and FGW4). The NAT traffic path established initially will continue to direct traffic through the originally assigned Flow Gateways (FGW1 and FGW2). The existing workloads will not automatically utilize the new Flow Gateways (FGW3 and FGW4) without a reconfiguration or reboot, which reassigns the NAT paths.

References

Nutanix Flow Networking and Configuration Guide

BGP Gateway Deployment:The BGP gateway is deployed as Azure native VMs within the Prism Central VNet. This deployment ensures seamless integration with Azure's networking infrastructure.

Route Advertisement:The BGP gateway advertises the externally routable IP addresses to the Azure Route Server. This setup allows for dynamic routing and efficient traffic management.

Flow Gateways (FGW) as Next Hops:Each active Flow Gateway's external IP address is used as the next hop. This configuration ensures that southbound traffic is correctly routed to the appropriate Flow Gateway, providing efficient and reliable connectivity.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Networking Guide

Azure Route Server and BGP Documentation

Cloud Hardware Support: For issues related to cloud hardware, such as EC2 instances or VPC configurations, the responsible entity is typically the public cloud vendor.

Nutanix Responsibility: Nutanix manages the software layer and integration aspects of the NC2 service, but the underlying hardware support is managed by the cloud provider (e.g., AWS, Azure).

Support Process:

Public Cloud Vendor: Contact the public cloud vendor for issues directly related to the hardware, as they own and manage the physical infrastructure.

Nutanix: For software and configuration issues specific to the NC2 service, contact Nutanix support.

Conclusion: For cloud hardware-related support, the appropriate contact is the public cloud vendor.

References:

Nutanix Support Guide

Azure Support Documentation

Azure Directory Service Role: Azure Directory Service must be able to resolve specific Nutanix URLs to ensure proper communication and functionality during the deployment of an NC2 cluster.

Critical Endpoint: The address "Gateway-external-api.cloud.nutanix.com" is critical for establishing external API communications required for the deployment and management of the NC2 cluster.

DNS Resolution: Proper DNS resolution of this address ensures that the Azure Directory Service can interact with Nutanix services and APIs necessary for cluster operations.

Verification Process:

Ensure that DNS settings allow resolution of "Gateway-external-api.cloud.nutanix.com".

Test connectivity and resolution prior to deployment to avoid issues.

Importance: Without resolving this address, the deployment process might face connectivity issues, leading to potential deployment failures.

References:

Nutanix NC2 on Azure Setup Guide

Azure Active Directory Integration

User VM:The initial source of the traffic within the Azure environment.

Delegated Subnet:Traffic from the User VM flows through the delegated subnet, which is configured to handle specific network traffic.

Flow Gateway:The Flow Gateway manages and routes the traffic from the delegated subnet, providing network services and connectivity.

Floating IP Address:The Flow Gateway assigns a floating IP address for the outbound traffic, facilitating NAT operations.

Azure NAT Gateway:The traffic is then routed through the Azure NAT Gateway, which provides outbound internet connectivity for the User VMs, ensuring secure and efficient routing.

References:

Azure Virtual Network NAT Documentation

Nutanix NC2 Configuration Guide

my.nutanix.com Portal:This portal provides access to various Nutanix services and features, including the NC2 deployment interface.

NC2 Tile:The NC2 tile within the portal is specifically designed for deploying and managing Nutanix Cloud Clusters. It provides the necessary tools and settings to initiate and configure NC2 clusters on Azure or other cloud environments.

References:

Nutanix NC2 Deployment Guide

my.nutanix.com Portal Documentation

Jump Host Deployment:A Jump Host is a secure server used to access other systems in a network. In the context of an NC2 cluster on Azure, it serves as an intermediary for accessing Prism Element and Prism Central.

Flexible Deployment Options:The Jump Host can be deployed in either the Prism Central VNet or an external VNet, providing flexibility in network design and access strategies. This allows the organization to choose the most suitable network for deploying the Jump Host based on their security and connectivity requirements.

References:

Nutanix NC2 on Azure Deployment Guide

Azure Virtual Network Configuration Documentation