Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA)

If you already have experience with administering a Nutanix environment, this course will extend, deepen, and broaden your knowledge as you grow in your career as a Nutanix administrator.

Designed with Prism Central as the focal point, this course illustrates the breadth and depth of Nutanix’s centralized management capabilities, and allows you to explore the wide variety of features that are available in this one, single web console.

ECA is divided into four topic areas:

1. Understanding core Nutanix concepts, such as hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and the various Nutanix cloud solution packages. Also, the basic configuration of a cluster and the components that are needed to create and manage VMs – namely, networks and images.
2. Creating and managing VMs, how to protect VMs and their data, how to apply storage optimization features at the VM level, and how to migrate your workloads to a Nutanix environment.
3. Learn about alerts, events, log collection, reporting, and how to use various features in Prism Central to identify, analyze, and remediate performance issues.
4. Learn how to set up a cluster for maintenance activities – such as starting and stopping nodes and clusters – and how to upgrade installed software and firmware with just a few clicks.

• Administrators, engineers, and others who manage Nutanix clusters in the datacenter 
• Managers and technical staff seeking information to drive purchase decisions
• Anyone seeking the Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI) certification 

Module 1: Introduction

• Understand Nutanix, HCI, and the benefits of Nutanix HCI
• Understand the Nutanix product portfolio and the Cloud Platform’s core components: AOS Storage, AHV Virtualization, and Prism
• Get started with Prism Element and Prism Central, and understand when to use each
• Understand cluster fundamentals: nodes, blocks, and clusters, and view hardware in Prism Element
• Understand Nutanix Pulse and how to enable it
• Use the Nutanix Support and Insights Portal

Hands-on Labs:

• Connecting to Prism Element
• Exploring Prism Element
• Preparing Prism Element for operations
• Deploying Prism Central
• Exploring Prism Central
• Preparing Prism Central for operations
• Enabling the Prism Central Ultimate trial license

Module 2: Security

• Understand Nutanix’s approach to security and the Security dashboard in Prism Central
• Understand CVM access and how to change default passwords
• Configure authentication and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Understand security management, infrastructure hardening, and compliance

Hands-on Labs:

• Changing default passwords
• Configuring Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Configuring secure access to the cluster
• Configuring SSL certificates
• Applying basic hardening

Module 3: Networking

• Understand AHV networking terminology
• Understand VLANs and IP Address Management (IPAM)
• Manage networks in Prism Central
• Manage networks in Prism Element
• Understand network segmentation

Hands-on Labs:

• Creating an unmanaged network
• Creating a managed network
• Exploring the AHV network configuration
• Viewing virtual switches from Prism Element

Module 4: Storage

• Understand AOS Storage
• Understand Nutanix storage constructs
• Understand storage resiliency
• Migrate vDisks between storage containers
• Understand storage and capacity optimization
• Create and update storage containers in Prism Central

Hands-on Labs:

• Exploring the Storage dashboard
• Creating a container with Prism Element
• Creating a container with Prism Central
• Creating a volume group

Module 5: Categories

• Understand categories and pre-built categories
• Assign categories in Prism Central

Hands-on Labs:

• Reviewing and modifying pre-built categories
• Creating custom categories

Module 6: Images

• Understand the image service and why images are needed
• Add images in Prism Element
• Explore the Images dashboard in Prism Central; add, import, and modify images

Hands-on Labs:

• Uploading images to Prism Element
• Importing images to Prism Central
• Uploading images to Prism Central

Module 7: Creating Virtual Machines

• Understand what a VM is and explore the VMs dashboard
• Create a VM in AHV using Prism Central
• Understand and install Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT)

Hands-on Labs:

• Creating a virtual machine for Windows and installing the Windows operating system
• Deploying a disk image as a virtual machine
• Installing Nutanix Guest Tools with Prism Element and Prism Central

Module 8: Managing Virtual Machines

• Manage VMs in Prism Central
• Create and manage VM templates
• Clone, export, import, and update VMs

Hands-on Labs:

• Migrating vDisks between storage containers
• Working with templates, clones, and OVAs
• Adding and growing virtual disks
• Adding and removing volume groups

Module 9: Protecting and Recovering Virtual Machine Data

• Work with VM snapshots in Prism Element and VM recovery points in Prism Central
• Use Self-Service Restore
• Understand Protection Domains

Hands-on Labs:

• Creating VM recovery points
• Updating a VM
• Recovering VM recovery points
• Configuring Self-Service Restore

Module 10: Policies

• Understand the Policy Engine
• Configure quotas
• Configure storage policies and VM policy management
• Configure approval policies and scheduler policies

Hands-on Labs:

• Using the default storage policy
• Creating a custom storage policy
• Creating an affinity policy
• Creating an anti-affinity policy
• Creating a VM startup policy

Module 11: Task Automation

• Understand X-Play
• Configure playbook actions

Hands-on Labs:

• Automating tasks

Module 12: Disaster Recovery

• Understand data protection strategies
• Understand asynchronous replication, NearSync, and synchronous replication capabilities
• Understand Metro Availability best practices
• Configure data protection in Prism Central
• Set up a disaster recovery environment and protection
• Create a protection policy and a recovery plan

Hands-on Labs:

• Enabling Nutanix Disaster Recovery
• Configuring an availability zone
• Creating production and test VLANs
• Configuring a protection policy
• Configuring a recovery plan
• Validating and testing recovery plans
• Planned failover

Module 13: Migrating Workloads with Nutanix Move

• Understand what Nutanix Move is
• Use the Nutanix Move dashboard

Hands-on Labs:

• Deploying Move
• Configuring Move
• Creating and initiating a migration plan
• Performing cutover and validating migration

Module 14: Monitoring Cluster Performance

• Use the Analysis Dashboard in Prism Central; create sessions and custom charts
• Create custom reports, add charts to a report, configure report settings, and generate reports
• Customize the main dashboard in Prism Central

Hands-on Labs:

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

Module 15: Monitoring Cluster Health

• Monitor cluster health in Prism Element and Prism Central: Alerts, Events, and Audits dashboards
• Run and schedule Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) in Prism Element and Prism Central

Hands-on Labs:

• Using Nutanix Cluster Check (NCC) health checks
• Verifying cluster health

Module 16: Upgrading a Cluster

• Understand Life Cycle Manager (LCM), the LCM workflow, and software update distribution
• Use the LCM dashboard in Prism Element and Prism Central
• Perform inventory on Prism Element and Prism Central clusters, and at a Dark Site

Hands-on Labs

• LCM inventory and upgrades

Module 17: Cluster Maintenance

• Perform a cluster health check
• Understand Nutanix HA
• Place nodes into maintenance mode
• Start a node in a cluster (AHV) and start up an AHV cluster

Hands-on Labs

• Node maintenance mode: putting a node into and exiting a node from maintenance mode

• Customer must purchase training seats in advance of scheduling course dates.
• Customer may not cancel purchased training seats and all amounts paid are non-refundable.
• Customer may reschedule courses with no less than 10 business days written notice to Tielen Consultancy B.V. Rescheduling fees may apply.
• Customer may substitute a student with no less than 5 business days written notice to Tielen Consultancy B.V. Rescheduling fees do not apply to substitutions.
• Tielen Consultancy B.V. has a 10-business-day (prior training start date) reschedule policy. If customer reschedules within those 10 business days, fees may apply up to the full price of the seat.
• Tielen Consultancy B.V. reserves the right to cancel any scheduled course due to minimum enrollment not being achieved, instructor illness, or other events outside of its control.
• Cancellation notices will be sent to enrolled students by email with rescheduling information and alternative training options.
• Any invoices must be paid 7 days prior training start date.