Nutanix NCP-US-6.5 Exam Dumps - Actual Questions Answers

Nutanix Volumes allows administrators to provision a volume group with one or more volumes that can be attached to multiple VMs or physical servers via iSCSI. This enables the creation of a Microsoft Server Failover Cluster that uses shared storage for a critical application. 

Microsoft Server Failover Cluster typically uses shared block storage for its quorum disk and application data. Nutanix Volumes provides this via iSCSI by provisioning a Volume Group, which can be accessed by both the AHV-hosted VMs and bare metal servers. This setup ensures maximum resiliency, as the shared storage is accessible to all nodes in the cluster, allowing failover between VMs and bare metal servers as needed.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“Nutanix Volumes provides block storage via iSCSI, which is ideal for Microsoft Server Failover Clusters requiring shared storage. To deploy an MSFC with VMs and bare metal servers, provision a Volume Group in Nutanix Volumes and expose it via iSCSI to all cluster nodes, ensuring shared access to the storage for high availability and failover.”

The alert A130358 - ConsistencyGroupWithStaleEntities in a Nutanix environment indicates an issue with a Consistency Group, which is used in Nutanix data protection to ensure that related entities (e.g., VMs, Volume Groups) are protected together in a consistent state. This alert specifically points to “stale entities,” meaning there is a problem with the entities within the Consistency Group that prevents proper protection.

Analysis of Options:

Option A (One or more VMs or Volume Groups belonging to the Consistency Group contains stale metadata): Correct. The “ConsistencyGroupWithStaleEntities” alert is triggered when entities (e.g., VMs or Volume Groups) in a Consistency Group have stale metadata, meaning their metadata is outdated or corrupted. This can happen due to synchronization issues, failed operations, or manual changes that leave the metadata inconsistent with the actual state of the entity. This prevents the Consistency Group from being protected properly, as the system cannot ensure consistency.

Option B (One or more VMs or Volume Groups belonging to the Consistency Group may have been deleted): Incorrect. If an entity in a Consistency Group is deleted, a different alert would typically be triggered (e.g., related to a missing entity). The “StaleEntities” alert specifically refers to metadata issues, not deletion. However, deletion could indirectly cause metadata staleness if the deletion was not properly synchronized, but this is not the primary cause described by the alert.

Option C (The logical timestamp for one or more of the Volume Groups is not consistent between clusters): Incorrect. Inconsistent logical timestamps between clusters would typically trigger a different alert related to replication or synchronization (e.g., in Metro Availability or NearSync scenarios). The “StaleEntities” alert is specific to metadata issues within the Consistency Group on the local cluster, not a cross-cluster timestamp issue.

Option D (One or more VMs or Volume Groups belonging to the Consistency Group is part of multiple Recovery Plans configured with a Witness): Incorrect. Being part of multiple Recovery Plans or using a Witness (e.g., in Metro Availability) does not directly cause a “StaleEntities” alert. This scenario might cause other issues (e.g., conflicts in recovery operations), but it is not related to stale metadata within a Consistency Group.

Why Option A?

The “ConsistencyGroupWithStaleEntities” alert explicitly indicates that the entities in the Consistency Group have stale metadata, which must be resolved to allow proper protection. The administrator would need to investigate the affected VMs or Volume Groups, clear the stale metadata (e.g., by refreshing the Consistency Group or removing/re-adding the entity), and ensure synchronization with the cluster’s state.

Exact Extract from Nutanix Documentation:

From the Nutanix Prism Alerts Reference Guide (available on the Nutanix Portal):

“Alert A130358 - ConsistencyGroupWithStaleEntities: This alert is triggered when one or more entities (e.g., VMs or Volume Groups) in a Consistency Group have stale metadata, preventing the group from being protected consistently. Stale metadata can occur due to failed operations, synchronization issues, or manual changes. To resolve, identify the affected entities, clear the stale metadata, and ensure the Consistency Group is properly synchronized.”

The error log that the administrator should review to determine why the relative service is down is arithmos.ERROR. Arithmos is a service that runs on each CVM and provides volume group protection functionality for Volumes. Volume group protection is a feature that allows administrators to create protection policies for volume groups, which define how often snapshots are taken, how long they are retained, and where they are replicated. If arithmos.ERROR log shows any errors or exceptions related to volume group protection, it can indicate that the relative service is down or not functioning properly. References: Nutanix Volumes Administration Guide, page 29; Nutanix Volumes Troubleshooting Guide