ECA: Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration

Module 1: Getting Started with a Nutanix Cluster

• Understand three-tier and hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI).
• Understand the Nutanix product portfolio.
• Understand nodes, blocks, clusters, and cluster services.
• Get started with Prism Central and Prism Element.
• Understand when to use Prism Central and when to use Prism Element.

Hands-On Labs

• Connecting to and exploring Prism Element.
• Adding a data services IP, an NTP server, and a name server in Prism Element.
• Connecting to, exploring, and configuring Prism Central.

Module 2: Configuring Cluster Networking

• Understand AHV networking terminology.
• Use Prism Central to monitor cluster networks.
• Use Prism Element to explore the Network Visualizer.
• Create and update subnets and virtual switches.
• Understand subnet extension and network segmentation.

Hands-On Labs

• Creating unmanaged and managed networks.
• Exploring the AHV network configuration.
• Viewing virtual switches from Prism Element.

Module 3: Managing Images

• Understand the image service.
• Use Prism Central to monitor, upload, import, and manage images.

Hands-On Labs

• Uploading and importing images to Prism Central.
• Configuring an image placement policy.

Module 4: Creating VMs

• Use Prism Central to create virtual machines.
• Use Prism Central self-service capabilities to create VM templates.
• Use Projects in Prism Central.
• Install and enable Nutanix Guest Tools.

Hands-On Labs

• Creating Windows and Linux virtual machines.
• Installing Windows and Linux operating systems.
• Installing Nutanix Guest Tools on Windows and Linux.
• Creating a Project.
• Exploring the Self Service Dashboard in Prism Central.

Module 5: Managing VMs

• Update, clone, customize, export, and apply placement rules to virtual machines.
• Create and apply storage policies to virtual machines.
• Create playbooks to automate common VM administrative tasks.

Hands-On Labs

• Updating a virtual machine.
• Assigning categories to a virtual machine.
• Creating a snapshot and restoring a virtual machine.
• Creating a template and a clone.
• Exporting a virtual machine as an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) file.
• Creating and running a playbook.

Module 6: Configuring and Managing Cluster Storage

• Understand AOS Storage.
• Understand storage pools, storage containers, redundancy factor, replication factor, capacity reservation, and snapshots.
• Understand fault tolerance and failure handling mechanisms.
• Create and update storage containers.
• Create and update volume groups.
• Use capacity optimization features.

Hands-On Labs

• Exploring the Storage dashboard.
• Creating containers with and without compression.
• Comparing data in compressed versus uncompressed containers.
• Configuring volume groups.
• Migrating disks between storage containers.

Module 7: Data Protection and Disaster Recovery

• Understand data protection concepts and terminology.
• Understand synchronous and asynchronous replication.
• Create snapshots and recovery points.
• Configure local and remote backup and disaster recovery using Prism Element.
• Use Nutanix Disaster Recovery to create protection policies and recovery plans.
• Back up and restore Prism Central.

Hands-On Labs

• Backing up and restoring Prism Central.
• Configuring Self Service Restore.
• Creating protection domains and performing local VM restore.
• Creating containers for replication.
• Configuring remote sites and creating protection domains.
• Performing VM migration and migration back to the primary site.

Module 8: Securing a Nutanix Cluster

• Understand AOS Distributed Storage.
• Understand storage pools, storage containers, redundancy factor, replication factor, capacity reservation, and snapshots.
• Understand fault tolerance and failure handling mechanisms.
• Create and update storage containers.
• Use capacity optimization features.

Hands-On Labs

• Exploring the Storage dashboard.
• Creating containers with and without compression.
• Comparing data in compressed versus uncompressed containers.
• Migrating vDisks between storage containers.

Module 9: Migrating Workloads with Nutanix Move

• Understand, install, and upgrade Nutanix Move.
• Use Nutanix Move to migrate virtual machines.
• Download Move logs.

Hands-On Labs

• Preparing a virtual machine for migration.
• Deploying a Move virtual machine.
• Configuring Move and creating a migration plan.

Module 10: Monitoring Cluster Performance

• Understand performance monitoring features in Prism Central.
• Create sessions, charts, and reports.
• Create custom dashboards in Prism Central.
• Perform resource planning and capacity runway analysis.

Hands-On Labs

• Creating a Prism Central performance monitoring dashboard.
• Creating charts to analyze metrics using Prism Central.
• Creating and managing reports.

Module 11: Monitoring Cluster Health

• Understand health monitoring features in Prism Central and Prism Element.
• Obtain summarized and detailed cluster health information.
• Use Nutanix Cluster Check.
• Collect and forward logs.

Hands-On Labs

• Using Nutanix Cluster Check health checks.
• Collecting logs for Support.
• Verifying cluster health.

Module 12: Maintaining and Upgrading a Cluster

• Perform cluster health checks.
• Use node maintenance mode.
• Understand hardware upgrade and replacement tasks.
• Start and stop nodes and clusters.
• Add and remove nodes.
• Understand and explore Life Cycle Manager (LCM).
• Use LCM to perform inventory and upgrades.

Hands-On Labs

• Using node maintenance mode.
• Performing upgrades with LCM, both with and without internet access.

Module 13: Investigating and Remediating Performance Issues

• Understand alerts and events and the associated dashboards in Prism Central.
• Troubleshoot issues related to protection policies, LCM, security, performance, and other areas.
• Identify problematic or inefficient virtual machines.
• Explore methods for remediating problematic virtual machines.

Hands-On Labs

• Working with alerts.
• Exploring events.