Nutanix Study Guide

This guide is based on my experience coming from a virtualization background and being new to Nutanix. I’ve been using Nutanix certifications as milestones to structure my study.

It includes a study guide map, the reasoning behind the suggested order, the resources I’ve used, and some of the challenges I’ve faced along the way.

This guide will be updated over time based on my progress and reader feedback.

This article is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Nutanix Study Guide Map

Nutanix Study Guide Map

Logical Order of Certifications

There is a logical order in how to tackle all Nutanix certifications, and it is reflected in the above study guide map.

  • The core contains the NCA (optional), NCP-MCI, NCM-MCI and the NCP-US.
  • NCP-CI-AWS reuses the majority of the concepts learned in NCP-MCI and NCM-MCI.
  • NCP-CI-Azure follows the same idea as above.
  • NCP-EUC reuses all concepts of the core. Some disaster recovery solution document reference running on NC2, therefore both NCP-CI are relevant.
  • NCP-CN, even though NKP can run on other platforms, when it runs on Nutanix many of the core concepts are reused.
  • NCP-AI, even though Enterprise AI can run on other Kubernetes platforms, when it runs on NKP the NCP-CN concepts are reused.
  • NCP-MCA, Nutanix X-Play is already covered in NCP/NCM-MCI.
  • NCX-MCI requires core knowledge but any other topic may be part of a design.
  • NCP-DB and NPX are missing because I have not started working on them.

If you take the certifications in this order, you will notice that often online courses reference topics that you should already be familiar with.
For example, if you follow the Nutanix End User Computing Administration (NEUCA) for NCP-EUC it contains Flow Network Security, already covered in NCP/NCM-MCI and Nutanix Files covered in NCP-US.

Certification Difficulty Overview

As a general rule I think each NCP exam is easy but the learning itself could be very time consuming.

  • Most of the time the questions use a clean English structure.
    With other vendors, some questions are very difficult to understand. Not the topic but the question itself.
  • There are few questions where you need to know an exact value by heart.
  • For each other question, at a minimum it is easy to remove one wrong answer, most of the time two even if you don’t know the exact reply.

Some NCP beta exams seem more difficult but I do not know if it is because of the questions themselves, losing focus due to number of questions, or simply because I didn’t have a lot of time to study two of them.

I consider the NCM-MCI 6.5 as medium difficulty.
I assume it will be the same for NCM-MCI 6.10.
I strongly recommend a large screen among other NCM-MCI exam tips.

Individual Certification Details

The content size mentioned at the end of each topic assumes you’ve completed the previous certifications in the study guide map.

Core

NCA could be a good starting point. I have not attempted it, so I consider it as optional.

NCP-MCI is the first certification and with the NCP-CN one of the most time consuming:

  • High number of Nutanix products and concepts to learn
  • High number of related skills, if you are coming from a virtualization background it is nothing new, otherwise it could be a real challenge.

NCM-MCI uses the same concepts of NCP-MCI but in a hands-on point of view.

NCP-US is used by Ominissa, Citrix, Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) and Nutanix Enterprise AI when running on NCI this is why I consider it as part of the core. It could be challenging even with a virtualization background,

Large amount of content to learn for the whole core.

AWS

This is simply the “core” but running on AWS instead of on-premises.
Majority of core concepts are re-applicable with few exceptions.
There are in addition some customization unique to AWS.
You also need knowledge about some AWS components but not at the level of an AWS certified.

Small to medium amount of content to learn.

Azure

I have not attempted it yet, but I assume the above description for AWS could be reused by swapping AWS with Azure.
In addition Nutanix VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) is mandatory…but it is part of the core.

Small to medium amount of content to learn.

EUC

This certification is quite special. There is no Nutanix EUC product as such. This is all about End User Computing in general and how Nutanix solutions support a Citrix or Omnissa infrastructure.

If your goal is to build a complete End User Computing platform, I would strongly suggest to start with Citrix and Omnissa certifications and learn related products, like Zero Clients, and then complete your training with NCP-EUC to build on Nutanix specifically.

If your goal is to work in collaboration with EUC professionals to make the most of the Nutanix platform, then only getting the NCP-EUC should be enough.

There are many Nutanix documents referenced in the blueprints and they point to other Nutanix documents. In addition having a look at Citrix and Omnissa documentation, outside of what is referenced in the blueprint will help.

Medium/Large amount of content to learn.

Kubernetes

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) is a “standalone” product. It doesn’t have to run on Nutanix NCI or NC2.
From a certification point of view, it is still needed to have the “core” skills because it could run on NCI and in such case it can also use “Nutanix Files” for persistent storage.

This certification requires a lot of related skills, in a way similar in terms of quantity but on different topics than the NCP-MCI.

The first is Kubernetes. The blueprint mentions that a candidate should possess a Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA). I strongly recommend to follow this suggestion to get a better understanding of the platform from an administrator and user point of view. I have done it as part of the Kubestronaut Challenge.

The second part are ALL the open-source products selected by Nutanix. A basic knowledge is enough for the certification but true mastery requires knowing each of them in detail.

The third are all other Kubernetes-related products. Even though it is possible to build a lot with pre-selected products, there is a high probability that a complete solution use additional products.

Finally there is only one main document mentioned in the blueprint. It is a very large document but many parts are redundant or variations of the same topic. It is still a lot to learn.

Large amount of content to learn.

AI

Nutanix Enterprise AI is a “standalone” product. It can run on NKP but also on AWS, Azure and Google Kubernetes platform.
From a certification point of view it has to be done after the NKP.

The product itself is quite simple yet powerful focusing only on AI inference and it is reflected by the small documentation. (The real work is for the administrator of the underlying Kubernetes platform).

If you are new to AI like me, there are some concepts to learn but these are only basic concepts.
Building and training models will be done by other teams with other products.

Small amount of content to learn.

Automation

X-Play is already covered in the core.
NCM Self-Service is the Nutanix product that gave me the most challenge so far.
To be fair, I didn’t have a lot of time to study before the beta exam.
But even in a short time I was able to grasp the “essence” of other Nutanix products much faster.

Medium amount of content to learn.

Database

NCP-DB, I have no experience with it. It may come later.

Expert

The NCX-MCI is my next challenge.
My guess is that at a minimum the final design should use the core concepts and some of the others, but not all.
It requires some related architecture skills, the NMCID course, which is mandatory, will help you develop these skills if you don’t already have them.

Large amount of content to learn.

NPX, I have no experience with it. It may come later.

Recommendations for all NCP certifications

I have used the same approach for all certifications.
It is suitable for a theoretical learner. e.g., I was able to pass the NCP-CI-AWS without ever implementing it.
If you are a practical learner or learn best with a mentor, this may not suit you.
Please, keep in mind that achieving a NCP in this way is only a first step toward expertise.

  • Read the blueprint
    • Download ALL documentation linked in the blueprint
    • List all products referenced in the blueprint or documentation downloaded
  • Read the product description and datasheets if any.
    Example: Self-Service. The reason is that sometimes the online courses do not start by the big picture.
  • Follow the online course but do not attempt the practice questions yet.
    Thank you Nutanix. Finally one company that realizes that it is not fair to make customers and partners pay for learning how to use their products.
    There is one course per certification, and the online version is free.
    I also recommend completing the three courses related to NCA, NCP-MCI and NCM-MCI before attempting the NCP-MCI or NCM-MCI.
  • Read, ideally more than once, all downloaded documents.
  • Complete Test Drives (interactive Nutanix lab environments) related to your exam.
  • Practice – Strongly recommended, though it’s possible to pass without it.
    • Best option practice in a real test environment.
    • Second option practice in a home lab.
    • Last, not optimal, repurpose a test drive to test other things like learning for NCM-MCI.
      Some Test Drives give you a real lab and are suitable for this purpose, but others like the one with NKP do not give you the option to deviate from the guided path.
  • Watch YouTube
  • Read blogs
  • Attempt the online course practice questions.
    If you get above 75% you should be fine for the exam.
  • Just before the exam, identify in the documentation what you think could be used in a “by heart question” and learn it.
    You only need to remember it for the exam itself. In the future, it is better to always check the latest documentation for every new project.

Note: If you are working for a Nutanix partner, I also recommend following all partner courses.

Common Challenges

  • Each certification is mapped to a specific product version that may not be the latest.
    It is possible to get a reply wrong by studying only with the latest documentation version.
    To avoid this, learn from the old version, or study the new version and quickly review the old documentation before the exam.
  • The test platform PSI is not always reliable.
    • Disconnection during NCM-MCI 6.5 (Still passed)
    • NCM-MCI 6.10 beta, the environment was not ready. No possibility to re-attempt it.
    • NCP-EUC beta two disconnections/bugs.
    • To put in context, this means that in my case 3 out of 10 Nutanix exams had issues. Maybe beta exams are less stable.
  • Nutanix’s rate of change brings some challenges.
    • Some documentation and video reference old name like Calm.
      The new names are much better and self-explanatory so it is only a temporary challenge for a long term benefit.
    • Some documentation and video reference deprecated or end of life products. e.g., Nutanix Xi Leap, Nutanix Mine
    • Some of the Test Drives are based on older product versions.
      They are still useful to learn concepts but the GUI may vary in newer version.