100+ Free NCS-Core Practice Questions
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Key Facts: NCS-Core Exam
About 75 questions
NCS-Core 6.8 exam length, multiple choice, multiple response and scenario-based
Nutanix NCS-Core 6.8 blueprint guide
120 minutes
Time limit for the NCS-Core exam
Nutanix NCS-Core 6.8 blueprint guide
3000 scaled score
Passing standard on a 1000-6000 scale
Nutanix NCS-Core 6.8 blueprint guide
199 USD
NCS-Core exam fee before regional adjustments
Nutanix training and certification
Version 6.8
Current NCS-Core exam version aligned to AOS 6.x
Nutanix Certified Services - Core (NCS-Core) 6.8
1-3 years
Recommended consulting/delivery experience for NCS-Core candidates
Nutanix NCS-Core 6.8 blueprint guide
Services-delivery focus
Validates deployment, validation and hand-off rather than only administration
Nutanix Certified Services - Core (NCS-Core)
100
Free original practice questions here
OpenExamPrep
The Nutanix Certified Services Core Infrastructure Professional (NCS-Core) is a professional-level Nutanix certification for services and delivery consultants. The current 6.8 exam has about 75 questions (multiple choice, multiple response and scenario-based) with a 120-minute time limit and costs 199 USD. The passing standard is a scaled score of 3000 on a 1000-6000 scale. It validates cluster deployment with Foundation, AOS/AHV/CVM/DSF architecture, Prism Element and Central operations, LCM lifecycle management, AHV networking and storage, and data protection. This 100-question bank provides original practice across those areas with explanations for every option.
Sample NCS-Core Practice Questions
Try these sample questions to test your NCS-Core exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.
1In a standard Nutanix cluster, which component runs on every node and is primarily responsible for serving all storage I/O for the local hypervisor host?
2What is the name of the Nutanix software-defined storage layer that pools all disks across the cluster into a single shared storage resource?
3Which AOS feature keeps a copy of a VM's frequently accessed data on the same node where the VM runs to reduce network traffic and latency?
4Which two services are central to how a Nutanix cluster stores and protects its metadata?
5Which CVM service is responsible for handling all data I/O requests, including reads, writes and data path operations?
6Which background CVM service performs cluster-wide maintenance such as disk balancing, information lifecycle management (ILM) and garbage collection?
7What does a redundancy factor of 2 (RF2) provide for a Nutanix cluster?
8A customer requires the cluster to survive two simultaneous node failures without data loss. What is the minimum redundancy factor and minimum cluster size required?
9During a services engagement, which Nutanix tool is used to image bare-metal nodes with a hypervisor and AOS and to create the initial cluster?
10Which network interface on each node provides out-of-band management used by Foundation for power and console control during imaging?
About the NCS-Core Exam
The Nutanix Certified Services Core Infrastructure Professional (NCS-Core) exam validates the skills needed to deliver Nutanix infrastructure services: deploying and configuring clusters, performing validation and hand-off, and supporting day-two operations. It is aimed at services and delivery consultants with roughly one to three years of experience and assumes working knowledge of AOS, the AHV hypervisor, the Controller VM (CVM), the Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF), and Prism Element and Prism Central. The current 6.8 version emphasizes real-world delivery tasks such as imaging nodes with Foundation, creating and expanding clusters, configuring networking and IPMI, validating health and resiliency, performing LCM upgrades, and configuring data protection with snapshots, protection domains and replication. The exam has about 75 multiple-choice, multiple-response and scenario-based questions and a 120-minute time limit, with a scaled passing score of 3000 on a 1000-6000 scale.
Assessment
Approximately 75 questions including single-answer multiple choice, multiple-response and scenario-based items covering services-delivery tasks across pre-delivery planning, cluster deployment, validation and operations.
Time Limit
About 120 minutes (2 hours).
Passing Score
Scaled score of 3000 on a 1000-6000 scale. Because Nutanix uses scaled scoring, the exact number of correct answers needed varies by exam form.
Exam Fee
199 USD; pricing may vary by region and currency. (Nutanix University (delivered via Pearson VUE / PSI))
NCS-Core Exam Content Outline
Core Architecture (AOS, CVM, DSF, AHV, Prism)
Nutanix core architecture: AOS software, the Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF), the Controller VM (CVM) and its role in I/O, the AHV hypervisor, cluster construction, and the Prism Element and Prism Central management planes. Practice covers data locality, metadata (Cassandra/Medusa), Zookeeper/Zeus configuration management, and how the CVM presents storage to hosts.
Cluster Deployment and Services Delivery
Pre-delivery planning and discovery, Foundation imaging of nodes, cluster creation and expansion, network/VLAN and IPMI/out-of-band configuration, environment validation, and customer hand-off documentation. Practice covers Foundation workflows, redundancy factor selection at create time, and validation checklists.
Infrastructure Operations and Resiliency
Day-two operations: Life Cycle Manager (LCM) inventory and upgrades, AOS and firmware updates, capacity and performance management, redundancy factor and data resiliency status, node and drive replacement, and rolling/non-disruptive maintenance. Practice covers maintaining cluster health and recovering resiliency after a failure.
AHV Virtualization, Networking and Storage
AHV VM management, virtual switches (VS) and bridges (br0), bonded uplinks and load balancing, VLANs, IPAM-managed networks, VM and VM-host affinity, storage containers, and capacity-optimization features such as inline/post-process compression, deduplication and erasure coding (EC-X). Practice covers when each storage optimization applies.
Data Protection and Prism Operations
Local and remote data protection: snapshots, protection domains and consistency groups, async, NearSync and metro availability replication, Nutanix DR (Leap) recovery plans, and Prism monitoring including alerts, analysis charts, reporting and dashboards. Practice covers selecting an RPO-appropriate replication mode.
How to Pass the NCS-Core Exam
What You Need to Know
- Passing score: Scaled score of 3000 on a 1000-6000 scale. Because Nutanix uses scaled scoring, the exact number of correct answers needed varies by exam form.
- Assessment: Approximately 75 questions including single-answer multiple choice, multiple-response and scenario-based items covering services-delivery tasks across pre-delivery planning, cluster deployment, validation and operations.
- Time limit: About 120 minutes (2 hours).
- Exam fee: 199 USD; pricing may vary by region and currency.
Keys to Passing
- Complete 500+ practice questions
- Score 80%+ consistently before scheduling
- Focus on highest-weighted sections
- Use our AI tutor for tough concepts
NCS-Core Study Tips from Top Performers
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions are on the NCS-Core exam and how long is it?
The NCS-Core 6.8 exam has approximately 75 questions and a time limit of about 120 minutes. Items include single-answer multiple choice, multiple-response and scenario-based questions.
What score do I need to pass NCS-Core?
Nutanix uses scaled scoring. The passing standard is a scaled score of 3000 on a 1000-6000 scale, so the exact number of correct answers needed varies by exam form.
How much does the NCS-Core exam cost?
The exam fee is 199 USD. Pricing can vary by region and currency, and Nutanix sometimes provides vouchers through training events and partner programs.
Who is the NCS-Core certification for?
It is aimed at services and delivery consultants with about one to three years of experience who deploy, validate and support Nutanix clusters, including partner and Nutanix services staff handling customer-facing delivery.
How is NCS-Core different from NCP-MCI or NCSE-Core?
NCS-Core focuses on services-delivery tasks (planning, Foundation deployment, validation and hand-off). NCP-MCI is the administrator certification, and NCSE-Core targets sales engineers. They share core AOS/AHV/Prism concepts but differ in emphasis.
What tools should I practice with for NCS-Core?
Practice with Foundation for imaging, Prism Element and Prism Central for management, LCM for upgrades, and a Community Edition or lab cluster to rehearse cluster create, expand, resiliency checks and data protection.