ECA: Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration

Module 1: Getting Started with a Nutanix Cluster

• Understand three-tier and 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 Prism Element

Hands-on Labs

• Connecting to and exploring Prism Element
• Adding 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 VMs
• 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 VMs
• 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 VMs
• Create and apply storage policies to VMs
• Create playbooks to automate common VM administrative tasks

Hands-on Labs

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

Module 6: Configuring and Managing Cluster Storage

• Understand AOS storage
• Understand key storage concepts such as 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 various capacity optimization features

Hands-on Labs

• Exploring the Storage dashboard
• Creating containers with and without compression
• Comparing data in a compressed vs uncompressed container
• Configuring volume groups
• Migrating vDisks between storage containers

Module 7: Data Protection and Disaster Recovery

• Understand data protection terms and concepts
• Understand synchronous and asynchronous replication capabilities
• Create snapshots and recovery points
• Use Prism Element to configure local and remote backup and disaster recovery
• Use Nutanix disaster recovery to create protection policies and recovery plans
• Backup and restore Prism Central

Hands-on Labs

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

Module 8: Securing a Nutanix Cluster

• Understand the Nutanix approach to security
• Use the Security dashboard in Prism Central
• Use Prism Central to configure authentication, users, and RBAC
• Implement hardening features for AHV and the CVM
• Understand policies in Flow Network Security
• Understand data-at-rest encryption

Hands-on Labs

• Exploring the Security dashboard
• Adding a local user
• Adding Active Directory authentication
• Configuring Role Mapping
• Verifying a new user account
• Cluster lockdown

Module 9: Migrating Workloads with Nutanix Move

• Understand, install, and upgrade Nutanix Move
• Use Move to migrate VMs
• Download Move logs

Hands-on Labs

• Preparing a VM for migration
• Deploying a Move VM
• Configuring Move and a migration plan

Module 10: Monitoring Cluster Performance

• Understand performance monitoring features in Prism Central
• Create sessions, charts, and reports
• View and manage project resource utilization
• Create custom dashboards in Prism Central
• Resource planning and capacity runway

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
• Get summarized and detailed health information from Prism
• 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 a health check
• 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 (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 with protection policies, LCM, security, and performance
• Identify problematic or inefficient VMs
• Explore potential methods of remediating problematic VMs

Hands-on Labs

• Working with Alerts
• Exploring Events